


Central City Limits

by Kitty514



Category: DC's Legends of Tomorrow (TV), The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Dystopia, Desert, Fugitives, M/M, Mutilation, Slow Build
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-03-03
Updated: 2016-11-24
Packaged: 2018-05-24 11:37:30
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 22,607
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6152422
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kitty514/pseuds/Kitty514
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Central City is a dystopian city, surrounded by desert on all sides. Those who leave cannot come back in. Barry works at a floating market, living a boring life. That is, until Len stumbles in. As wanted fugitives, they have to find their own way to survive.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The City Itself

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! I've been mulling this idea over for a while and finally got to writing it. The first chapter contains a lot of exposition and not much action, so it's kind of slow. The following chapter should have more action to it.
> 
>  
> 
> In case it's unclear how the city is set up, or you don't want to read all of it, the basic set up from the outside to the inside is: desert, walls, farms, upper class, upper middle class, market, lower middle class/industrial sector, and the lower class in the center of the city.

It’s humid and hot today. Actually, it’s humid and hot almost every day, but today is particularly bad. Barry wipes at his sweaty brow, pushing back wet hair from his forehead. He’s been at the small fruit stand, that he’s worked in for two years, since four this morning. Now it’s afternoon and his stomach has started grumbling.

Across the crowded canal is a stall that sells fried fish. The scent keeps hitting his nose every time a breeze blows by. Barry waits for a lull in the lunchtime crowd before standing up from his stool. He pulls down the stall’s visor and locks it in place. He exits out the back door, locking that, too. It’s not uncommon to have thieves at the floating market- and Barry has learned that the hard way. 

Barry moves swiftly and carefully across the wooden walkway that doubles as a dock for boats behind the many stalls. When he reaches a gap between a fabric stand owned by a short old woman and a jewelry stand owned by a single mother, he squeezes through and out onto the main walkway. He’s lived here his whole life, but the intricate and seemingly chaotic market still takes his breath away. 

The floating market was established about thirty years ago, before Barry was born. It’s a tangled maze of waterways and walkways, bordered on every side by wooden stalls selling everything from food to clothes to toys. Everywhere is a conglomeration of various scents and colors and sounds, overwhelming in so many ways. The main canal is big enough to fit four rowboats side-by-side. Market-goers can row or take a motor-powered boat through the water and to their destination. Those who don’t have a boat can traverse the boards and over the bridges spanning the gaps high over the canals. As the market has grown larger and larger, so has the waterways and walkways. 

Barry sells fruit for a farm that lies with all the other farms at the very outskirts of the city. Central City was built in a geographical bowl, surrounded on all sides by desert. Pipelines carry water from the ocean, hundreds of miles away, to the city. The farms receive the water first, which is desalinized and cleaned in huge water plants stationed in the upper class sector. They’re also bordered by the vast wooden walls creating a perimeter between the city and the desert. 

The upper class region contains high ranking government officials and the richest of the rich. They have access to a commercial sector, meaning those who live there don’t have to wander into the market. Also in that region is a residential area, full of extravagant mansions, and the financial area, which keeps the money flowing and captured within the upper class. The rest of the land is taken up by government buildings and large businesses. 

The upper middle class comes next, even further in. Residential areas are more abundant, and some commercial sections exist. Mainly, those who have had the opportunity to go to college live here. They’re the ones with jobs under the government or within the college. This area borders the floating market. This is also where the flooding starts, as the pipelines tend to burst under undue stress caused by bored citizens. There are pipeline repair workers, but they’re never really happy to go far into the center of the city, so the pipes aren’t repaired very well. The water is less clean, but not so bad that many people get sick off of it. Barry lives with his foster dad Joe and his daughter Iris on the edge of the market and upper middle class section. Both Joe and Iris are cops, working mainly to keep black market activity at a minimum. 

Spiraling nearer to the center is the lower middle class, also known as the industrial sector. It’s not a far walk from the market. That’s where the city’s factories and boat repair shops are. Since more than half the city is flooded, boats are a big mode of transportation and a big industry. It’s a polluted area and many of the people living there are continually covered in dirt and dust. A big part of the black market leaders are stationed here, while most of the business is run from the market. 

At the very center of the city, where the most flooding is, is the lower class. Houses are built on long stilts, much higher than the water level, since twice a year the water rises way above normal due to an increase in water flow. It’s the poorest area and most of the citizens are barely living. The water is extremely dirty and little money runs through there, meaning food and medicine is hard to come by. Many fish breeding farms, started from capturing fish coming through the pipeline, have popped up in the area due to the bare amount of food. 

Barry works his way through the stifling crowd to the fish stall and purchases a plate. He heads directly back to his own stall, unlocking everything before sitting down and propping his feet up on a small bit of empty counter-space. Mondays are usually slow, even on nice days. He starts eating the fish, watching the crowd moving like the water. 

*** 

Len finishes tightening the last screw on the boat he’s been working on throughout the day. He’s covered in grease and grime, and his clothes are sticking to heavily to his sweaty skin. Thankfully, the sun is starting to set. The light is becoming more and more obscured by the large plastic awning spanning over the whole city. It was built to keep the sun’s intensity down, though it’s never really helped with much. The only time the awning is pulled back is when it rains. It’s always a big event when it happens. People stand outside as the awning is retracted by motors with a deafening, drawn out sound. Then, the rain comes down. 

It’s almost like a religious experience or ritual. People drag out buckets to collect the already clean water that falls from the sky, or bathe themselves outside. The industrial sector’s water has to be boiled twice before being used for anything, otherwise it’s likely to cause illness. Len’s gotten seriously sick from the water more than once. 

He stands up and places the screwdriver in his toolbox before hopping out of the boat. He moves over to the garage door and pulls it down so that he can lock it. The old repair shop looks almost peaceful in the setting sun, the light streaming through the dirty windows. It’s fairly open, with boats and tools and spare parts scattered about. Len has been running the shop for four years now, taking over after his dad was arrested when he attempted to rob the house of a government official. 

“Hey, Lisa,” Len calls out to his sister, “the shop’s closed.” 

“Okay.” Lisa calls out from somewhere in the back of the repair shop. A pause, then her head pops out from behind a rowboat, her brown hair sticking out in all directions even though she has it pulled back. “Wanna help me finish this baby up?” She pats the side of the boat, making a hollow thumping sound. 

“Can’t. I need to be at the market in an hour.” Len grabs a packet full of papers from a locked desk drawer. 

Lisa sighs loudly, bordering on melodramatically. “Fine. Leave me all by myself. Alone. In an empty building. I could be attacked or kidnapped.” She pouts a little. 

“We both know you could take on five men who are all twice your size. You’ve done it before.” Len walks over to her and hugs her briefly. 

“Yeah, that was an awesome night.” Lisa says, clearly proud of herself. “But, really, Lenny. Be safe out there. You know how much the cops have been cracking down on black market dealing. They catch you with those fake papers on you and they’ll throw your ass in jail.” She gives him a determined look. “I’m not running this stupid shop by myself, you hear me? It’s been hard enough since Mick disappeared. You better not end up like dad.” 

Len nods knowingly. “I hear you. And I promise you won’t have to work in the ‘stupid shop’ your whole life.” He stuffs the packet under his shirt, heading out a side door before Lisa can say more. 

Len knows that Lisa wants to get out of the industrial sector, but also doesn’t want to leave him. But he can’t let her live in the here forever. It’s dirty and dangerous in more ways than one. If he can scrape up just a bit more money, he’ll be able to send her to college. Then she can reside in the upper-middle sector. She can have an actual life. 

The scent of stagnant water fills his nose once more as he goes outside. He’s never stopped being able to smell it even though he’s lived here his whole life. A sigh escapes Len’s lips as he checks his watch. It takes twenty minutes for him to walk to the market entrance from the shop. Another fifteen minutes to reach the meeting point. Len’s hand lightly brushes over the packet of fake documents detailing the acceptance of one Mark Mardon as a pipeline worker. Probably hoping to go outside the city walls to see or help someone that’s been exiled. 

It’s been happening more often- people getting thrown out into the desert by the government and even by enemies people make. Once outside the city walls, there’s no going back in unless you’re a pipeline worker. If you’re not, and try to go back into the city, you end up dead. Len’s sure this guy isn’t the first to try this, and he won’t be the last. How the documents will hold up in the employment department, he’s not so sure. But money is money to him, so he doesn’t really care what happens to the guy as long as he gets paid. 

The towering arch marking the floating market’s entrance looms over Len’s head as he passes through. The wooden boards creak even louder under his weight and the weight of other moving bodies. On his way to the meeting point, he stops at a fruit stand to buy an apple. The kid running it looks bored, his bright red scuffed-up boots propped up on the counter. His brown hair is sticking up in some places and sticking down in others. Hazel eyes are focused on an almost empty plate of fish. Len takes note of the red patches covering his white shirt and the torn brown pants while he hands over some money. The kid takes the offered money and hands back change without even counting anything. 

“Keep the change.” Len mutters before walking away. He can bear to part with some of his money. It’s not like the apple cost much anyway. 

He’s about five feet away when a belated ‘thank you’ chases after him. Len waves a dismissive hand without looking back. He slips behind a stall selling scarves after weaving through the crowd for a while, sitting down on an overturned box. He check his watch again. There’s still ten minutes left before his customer should arrive. 

Len leans back against the wall, staring out at all the boats docked behind the stalls. The water rocks them back and forth gently. It’s close to a lullaby for Len, and his eyes close of their own volition. His eyes snap open abruptly when he hears footsteps closing in. He stands up, not pulling out the papers yet. And just his luck because it’s not Mark, but a cop that comes around the corner. 

She’s dressed all in royal blue from head to toe with her boots, trousers, and button up shirt. A silver badge on her chest glints in the descending sun. Her brown hair, pulled back into a prim ponytail, compliments her skin. And she looks pissed. 

“Hello, there.” She says in an overly polite tone. “I was clued into an illegal sale going down today. At this spot.” She raises an eyebrow. “You wouldn’t happen to know anything about it, would you?” 

The packet under Len’s shirt feels a lot scratchier on his skin as the cop reaches to her belt for her handcuffs. In a moment of a little bit of panic, he grabs the papers and throws them into the water. Then he sprints off away from the cop. 

*** 

Barry is busy minding his own business when there’s a clattering noise outside the stall’s back door. He goes to it and opens it, expecting another cat to have toppled some boxes near the docks. But instead, he comes face-to-face with the man who bought an apple from his earlier. 

The man pushes past Barry and closes and locks the door behind him. “You have to hide me.” He says, panting and sweating. 

“Wha-” Barry begins to say when there’s a knocking on the back door. He doesn’t really think when he shoves the man under the counter and pushes a box and the stool in front of him. 

When he rushes to the door to open it, Iris is standing there. Her prim ponytail swings languidly side to side as she glares Barry down. 

“Barry,” she says, “did you see a man in a light blue shirt run past? Or hear anything? Please tell me you did.” 

Barry hesitates for a quick second, thinking of the man currently under the counter. He was definitely wearing a light blue shirt. 

“No. Sorry.” He responds, then fakes a smile. His heart is in his throat now. “Are you chasing after some market thief again? It might be the same guy as last time. I saw him-” 

“You’re rambling.” Iris interrupts. Then she runs off down the walkway and away from Barry. 

Barry closes the door and spins around, facing the criminal crawling out of the hiding spot. He moves to the visor and pulls it down, nodding to a couple of passerby. 

“I just lied to my sister. Kind of sister. We’re not actually related.” Barry shakes his head, trying to tone down the encroaching hysteria n his voice. “Please tell me you’re not a serial killer.” 

The man stands up, raising his hands in a placating manner. “I’m not a serial killer. I’m a black market dealer. I swear.” 

“Oh, my god, that’s way worse. Both of the people I live with hunt down black market dealers for a living.” Barry makes a disgruntled sound. Then he looks the man up and down briefly. He’s dressed in a light blue shirt, tight-fitting dark pants, and black ankle boots. Around his neck is a dark blue scarf and a pair of goggles that most mechanics own. His hair is shaved close to his scalp, beginning to grey. Blue eyes stare at him sharply. 

“You’re from the industrial sector?” Barry asks, which earns him a nod. “What’s your name?” 

The man opens his mouth, but doesn’t say anything for a long moment. Then, “Leonard. Leonard Snart.” 

“Barry Allen.” Barry offers back. “Now please get out. I’ll be arrested, too, if you’re found here. I won’t say anything to anyone. I promise.” 

Leonard nods. “Thanks.” He goes to open the door but it swings open violently before he can reach it. 

Iris is standing outside with her gun trained on Leonard. Behind her is a score of cops, all with guns pointed at Barry and Leonard. 

“I’m sorry, Barry. But you’re a terrible liar.” Iris says, pain on her face. “You know I have to take you in. You said it yourself.” 

All Barry can think to say is, “Fuck.” 


	2. Bridging Boats

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Barry and Len go on the run.
> 
>  
> 
> tw for brief death scene and death mention

Barry intends to go with Iris willingly. He’ll probably end up in prison for aiding a criminal- the justice system in Central City has always been strict- but what else can he really do? At least he might get a chance of seeing his actual dad, who was falsely locked up years ago for drowning his mom. It just doesn’t help that he lives with cops. Joe’s going to be pissed.

Barry sighs in defeat and holds out his wrists to be handcuffed. Len does the same next to him, his face drawn tight. Iris goes to handcuff Barry, but in a quick moment Len has a gun to Barry’s head and one of the cops is on the ground. 

“What are you doing?” Barry asks, his voice breaking at the end. 

Len just grabs his arm. “Nobody move and the kid won’t get hurt.” He drawls. He begins to maneuver both of them out of the stall slowly. 

Iris is staring at Barry, a panicked expression on her face. She seems ready to lunge at Len, but Barry shakes his head at her minutely. He can’t let her get hurt. 

Len pulls Barry close into him. “Stay calm. I won’t hurt you.” He whispers in Barry’s ear, breath hot against his skin. 

Barry represses a shiver that begins to crawl up his spine. He allows Len to keep pulling him back, eyes locked on Iris. It’s only when the cops are out of sight and Barry can’t see Iris anymore that Len finally lets go. The gun falls from Barry’s head. It breaks Barry out of his trance. He spins around to face Len, ready to yell at him, ready to give him away to the cops. 

A gunshot resounds in the market before he can utter a single word. People start screaming, the noise almost earsplitting. Barry and Len instinctively duck down, crouching low to the wooden walkway. A gap in the crowd that lasts only a second shows Barry all he needs to know. 

The single mother from the jewelry stand is hunched over her youngest son. Blood is everywhere, covering the boy and the wooden boards beneath his body. Barry knows instinctively that the kid is dead. A long and haunting wail rises up from the crowd, above the screams. Barry can’t move, is frozen in place. All he can do is stare at the legs of the people rushing around him. 

Two hands grip Barry’s shoulders and pull him up. Then he’s being shoved away from the mother and her dead son. More gunshots go off, though they sound faint to his ringing ears. Len is in his line of vision now, blue eyes turned grey in the intense setting sun, saying something he can’t make out. 

Before Barry knows it, he’s being led up to the edge of the walkway. The water below is barely moving, the ugly brown color making the dead bugs on the surface even more prominent. A hard push on his back sends him tumbling over the edge. His mind finally starts to catch up to him, and he realizes what’s happening. Barry begins to shout as he falls into the water, but the shout is cut short when his body slams onto a bench inside a passing motor boat. His breath is knocked out of his lungs instantly, pain blossoming in his chest. Len lands awkwardly halfway on top of him quickly after, crushing one of Barry’s arms. The man driving the boat yells at them, his voice lost among all the crowd’s yelling and the gunshots. Len points the gun at the man, shutting him up. 

“Keep driving.” Len demands. Then he picks himself off of Barry gingerly. He hauls Barry up into a seated position on the boat’s bench. “You alright, kid?” 

“Not really.” Barry responds. He realizes that no more guns are going off. “What was that? What just happened? That couldn’t have been the cops firing into the crowd.” He watches as the hysteric crowd draws further away from sight, their noise bubbling down. He finally looks at Len and sees blood splattered across the left side of his face. His stomach clenches. 

“It’s not mine.” Len says as if reading Barry’s mind. His voice is rough and tired. “I don’t know who was shooting, but they didn’t have good intentions.” He turns back to the man driving the boat and tells him to drop them off at the market entrance. 

When they arrive, Barry steps out of the boat on shaky legs. He wants to go home. Wants to go to sleep. Forget everything that just happened. Forget the dead boy. But that’s not happening. 

Barry freezes in his tracks when he sees two holographic wanted posters side-by-side on the market entrance arch. His own face stares back at him on one, Len’s on the other. He reads the posters, dread sinking in. They’ve both been accused of a long list of crimes. The top one being the shooting that just happened in the market. He wishes the posters were made of paper so that he could rip them down. 

“No. No, that can’t-” Barry flinches when Len bumps shoulders with him. “I’ve never done any of these things.” He whispers to Len. “How did they even get these posters up so fast?” 

Len stares at his own poster. “This was planned in advance.” 

Barry runs a hand through his hair, glancing nervously through the crowd. “There’s a bounty on our heads, Snart. We didn’t shoot anyone in the market just now. This is wrong, so wrong.” 

“Well, tough luck, kid. This isn’t the first time someone’s been wanted. Hope you survive.” With that, Len slips into the crowd and disappears from sight. 

A seed of panic quickly blossoms in Barry’s stomach. He feels as if something has just been ripped away from him. He has absolutely no idea what to do. He half-walks, half-jogs through the mass of people as darkness finally settles across the city. Everyone around him has become a danger now that there’s a reward for bringing him in, dead or alive. 

*** 

Len tries to rationalize to himself that it was fine to ditch Barry. The kid is young, inexperienced, easily excitable. In a city trying to kill him. Len shakes his head and continues on his way back to the repair shop, head ducked down. Barry would only slow him down. 

Len knows how to take care of himself. He knows how to take care of Lisa. But not a market seller he met not even an hour ago. He keeps telling himself that until he’s back at the repair shop. He’s only got a couple hours until the cops show up. Lisa isn’t there either, which scares him a little. But he knows she’ll show up once she sees one of the wanted posters. 

There’s a backpack stocked with clothes and supplies hidden under some floorboards in the back. Len pries them up with his hands, grabbing the backpack. He goes through everything in it, checking off a mental list. Two shirts, one pair of pants, extra sock and underwear, some water and food, a knife, a small first aid kit and toolbox, and some extra cash. 

Len goes around washing his face and tidying things up around the shop until Lisa arrives an hour later. 

“Lisa-” 

“Your face is on half the wanted posters in the city, Lenny. For murder.” Lisa says, disbelief in her voice and on her face. “What’s going on? I thought you were just handing over some papers.” 

“I was,” Len says, “but something bad went down. I didn’t kill anyone, though. What’s on the posters is a lie. I need to get out of here before the cops show up.” 

Lisa straightens up. “I’m coming with you.” 

“No, Lisa. I’m a wanted criminal now. I can’t get you involved in this more than you already are. I can’t have anyone coming after you. You need to stay low, away from me. I know you’ve got friends you can stay with.” Len can hear the strain in his voice. 

Lisa clenches her jaw, but doesn’t argue. “Fine. But we’re meeting at Saints and Sinners in a week so that I know you’re still okay.” 

Len pulls her in for a hug. “I’ll be there. Promise.” 

“Be safe, Lenny.” Lisa pulls back. “Really.” 

Len nods and reluctantly leaves the shop. The air outside has begun to chill, so he pulls on the jacket he snatched off the desk before setting off. He pulls the hood up, planning to walk to Mick’s old hideout. It’s a few miles away, and Len should be able to get there easily in the dark without getting spotted. The streets aren’t too well lit and not too many people are out. 

He checks his watch. Forty minutes of walking and he’ll be there. As he’s looking back up, another person comes rushing into him. Len staggers back as the other person slams into his chest. He draws back quickly and comes face-to-face with Barry Allen. He swears internally. 

Len immediately grabs Barry by the collar and swings both of them into a nearby alley. “What are you doing here?” He demands, pushing Barry up against the wall. 

Barry stutters for a second, then his face goes dark. “I’m here because my face is on wanted posters _everywhere_. After _you_ made me your accomplice. I was ready to go with the cops peacefully until you took me hostage and threw me into a boat.” 

“I didn’t force you to hide me. And I threw you into the boat because I was trying to keep you from getting shot.” Len counters, his voice raising a little. He doesn’t want the kid to stir him up, but it’s hard not to let it happen. 

“You know who did get shot? A child.” Barry responds angrily. “I saw him die, Leonard. And so did his mother. I didn’t sign up for any of this. I was perfectly content sitting in my stall selling fruit. But you had to come along and ruin that.” Barry is yelling at him now. “I’m a fucking fugitive! A fugitive, Leonard! I’m the son of a cop. I can’t even begin to tell you how terrible it felt to see the disappointment on my dad’s face when I first showed up at his house.” 

“Don’t try to guilt me. It won’t work.” Len responds, forcing his voice to be quiet and calm. “If you’ll excuse me, I need to hide.” He starts to move back out toward the street. 

“Wait. Please, wait.” Barry calls out after him, voice changing into something desperate. 

Len stops, facing Barry again. “What?” 

“Please don’t leave me here alone. I don’t know what to do. I can’t stay away from the authorities by myself. I’ll be caught or killed within the hour. If not by the cops, then by one of the citizens out there hoping to make money.” Barry looks like he’s on the verge of tears, eyes glistening in the lamplight. 

Len frowns. His hands tighten into fists. He forces them to relax. He should leave Barry. He should walk away right now. It’s too much of a risk to keep him around. 

With a drawn out sigh, Len approaches Barry. He takes hold of the hood on Barry’s shirt and pulls it over his head. 

“Hood up. Head down. Don’t make eye contact with anyone. Understand?” Len gazes intently at Barry until he nods his head. “Good. Follow me and don’t make a noise.” 

Barry reaches out and loops his arm around Len’s. Len stares down between them and Barry fidgets. 

“You’ve been man-handling me all day.” Barry says. “The least you can do is let me hold onto you.” 

Len rolls his eyes. “Whatever.” He sets off onto the street with Barry in tow, “We’ll head west a few miles until we reach an abandoned warehouse. We can stay there a while. Then we part ways and never see each other again.” 

Which turns out to be a bad plan considering the sheer amount of cops swarming the streets a mile later. They won’t make it through this way. Not unless they want to be caught. The cops are checking everyone’s faces at a checkpoint. 

“Shit.” Len says under his breath. 

“Why are there so many cops?” Barry asks, leaning heavily into Len’s side. 

“They’re going to make an example of us. That’s why there’s a manhunt going on to catch us.” Len realizes. 

“An example.” Barry repeats. “Why? For what?” He whispers harshly as they pass by a group of cops. He turns his head toward Len to avoid having his face seen. 

“I don’t know.” Len responds quietly. “But we can’t stay here. We have to go somewhere else.” Len tugs Barry in a different direction. “We need to head further out. Out of the industrial sector.” 

“There’s cops everywhere from here to the upper middle region. That’s where all the cops live. The only place where we could go where there’s barely any cops is the outskirts of the city. To the farmlands. But that’s hours away.” 

Len inhales sharply. “I have to be able to come back here in a week to see my sister.” 

Barry doesn’t respond, just keeps walking with his head down. He fiddles with the strap of his satchel. 

“Hey, you two!” A cop shouts as she approaches them. “Show me your faces.” 

Barry grips harder onto Len’s arm. Len knows that they’ll only be able to run so far on foot. He spots a passing passenger boat in a waterway not too far away. 

“I’m throwing you into another boat.” Len says before pulling Barry along in a mad dash to the boat. 

“What are you- Leona-” 

Len pries Barry’s arm off of his, pushing him forward toward the end of the dock. Len glances back when he hears yelling. At least five cops are chasing after them and pulling their guns out. He looks back ahead at the fast approaching boat. 

“Jump on the count of three.” Len tells Barry, who makes a loud, incoherent noise in return. “One…two…three!” Len places his hands on Barry’s hips, lifting and pushing him forward over the water. Len follows after, jumping to the boat. 

They both land heavily on the wooden deck, Len half on top of Barry once again. Some of the passengers rush over and pull them up. Len shakes them off, growling at them. Then he grabs Barry and pulls him away from the passengers. The cops have stopped at the edge of the dock, guns aimed at the boat, which is too far away now to jump on. Barry and Len move quickly to the other side of the boat and out of sight of the cops. They’re both out a breath. 

“Where are we going?” Barry asks one of the passengers. 

The passenger says that they’re headed to the outskirts of the city with all the other pipeline workers. Barry’s eyebrows shoot up as he turns to Len. 

Len taps the railing with his fingers, gazing out over the black water. “If we’re already headed there, we should try and make it work. I’m sure we could find a place to hide. Some run down barn or something. The cops will figure out we’re there, though.” 

Barry nods, swallowing hard. “What’s happening, Snart?” He shakes his head slowly. “I’ve never broken any law in my life. They managed to convince the man that raised me that I killed people. It wasn’t until I talked to him that he realized it was a lie.” He sighs, closing his eyes. Dark shadows move swiftly across his face. 

Len stares at Barry, studying the outline of his face in the dark. “There’s something corrupt happening. We’re being targeted for crimes we didn’t commit. At least for the most part, for me.” 

Barry opens his eyes, staring at Len. “We need to figure out what’s happening, and why.” 

Len finds himself agreeing before he can really think about it. 


	3. The Fringes of the Farms

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Barry and Len find themselves in the farmlands.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [My tumblr](http://kitty-514.tumblr.com/)

When Barry wakes up, it’s snowing. Little flakes of dirty gray cover him, sticking in his hair and on his eyelashes. He blinks profusely as he rights himself from his position where he fell asleep on Len’s shoulder. Len has his eyes closed, sitting with his legs outstretched across the deck, wrists crossed one over the other in his lap.

It takes Barry an extra minute to regain his wits and realize that it’s not actually snowing. It’s ash falling from the top of the dome. Ash this far out in the farmlands. That can’t be good. 

Barry shakes Len, and Len’s eyes snap open as the boat docks. Workers begin to shuffle off, dim and sober figures in the ash. Len stands up. He shakes the ash off of his jacket before setting off for the dock without saying a thing to Barry. Barry stands up, too, and falls in step behind him. 

“Do you know where this ash came from?” Barry asks. He gets a miniscule glance of the farmlands before the entrance building obscures his view. It’s dark and damp inside the boat station, full of passengers entering and exiting. 

Len glances at Barry over his shoulder, frowning. “Last night, after you fell asleep, there was this bright light off to the west like a fire or explosion. Maybe at a factory. Then a few minutes later, the ash started to come down.” 

Barry stumbles into Len in the darkness. He mumbles an apology and loops his arm around Len’s. Len sighs. 

“I’ve never been out this far.” Len admits, voice low in the sound of the crowd. “I’m flying blind at this point.” 

Barry tugs Len towards an exit, ducking his head and pulling his hood back up as a station guard passes by. “I’ve been out here a few times over the years, so I’m sort of familiar with the layout of the area.” 

Len glances at Barry briefly, letting Barry take the lead. “Were you some sort of farm-boy?” 

“You say it like it’s a bad thing. But yes, I was.” Barry tries to smile, but it feels too forced. 

The rising sun breaks over the top of the wall as the two of them reach the outside. It illuminates the miles and miles of green and gold mixed together with falling flecks of gray. Len freezes suddenly, yanking Barry back with the change in momentum. Len’s face is drawn tight, his blue eyes flicking over the land in front of them. 

Barry blinks a couple times. “What’s wrong?” Someone jostles him, pushing him further into Len. 

Len seems to snap out of his reverie, shaking his head and stepping back a bit from Barry. “I’ve just never seen so much green.” He meets Barry’s gaze with slightly widened eyes, even though Barry can see Len trying to keep a neutral expression. 

Barry reaches over and gives Len’s arm a reassuring squeeze. Then he motions with his head in the direction of a dirt road some people have set out on. Len nods, heading over with Barry. Barry breathes in deep. The air here is definitely cleaner, but the ash still fills his lungs and makes him cough. He catches Len trying to take a deep breath as well, then scrunching his nose up when ash and dirt is kicked up into their faces by a cart in front of them. 

If it was under any other circumstances, Barry would be happy to be out this far. However, all he really feels is an underlying panic. He stares down at his feet, bright red boots becoming covered in dirt. He absentmindedly steers both himself and Len off the road and through a pasture populated by cows. 

Len draws back as they pass by a light brown cow. A look of confusion is faintly present on his face. Barry realizes that Len has probably never seen farm animals before. The only animals that are really in the center of the city are dogs, cats, rats, and fish. Len must be feeling out of his element right now, but Barry doesn’t dare mention it. He doesn’t want to risk upsetting the one person trying to keep both their head above water. 

As the sun rises higher, the light shines in Barry’s eyes. He shields them, squinting. That’s when he spots the large group of cops gathered around the barn Barry was heading for. Of course they would try and find him here. He jerks Len’s arm, but Len has already seen the police as well. 

“They’re everywhere.” Len hisses under his breath. 

Barry responds by pushing Len in a different direction, to a different barn. If they hurry, they might not be seen. The dilapidated barn they’re coming up on used to belong to the family that owns the cows. It was abandoned for the newer one Barry had planned to hide out in, and over the years the paint has faded and peeled. He glances over his shoulder, relief hitting him when none of the police have turned around and spotted them. Barry and Len quickly open the barn door and slip inside before shutting it. 

The barn is swirling with dust, stale hay and old manure still scattered across the floor. Light slants in from between some of the boards, highlighting broken and rotting wooden stables and benches. Sitting on one of the only intact benches is Iris. Her gun dangles from her fingertips. 

Barry freezes. Len comes to a standstill beside him. Iris doesn’t move her eyes from where they’re focused on the floor. Her hair is a mess, strands falling in front of her face and obscuring her delicate features. Everything is eerily quiet until she starts to speak. 

“They’re going to kill you, Barry.” Iris’s voice has a strange calm to it, one Barry knows is hiding a turmoil of emotions. “If I give you up, you’ll be publicly executed. If I don’t give you up, someone else will catch you and you’ll be killed.” 

“Iris-” 

“Barry, please.” Iris chokes back a sob, finally looking up. Her face is streaked with tears and her eyes are bloodshot. “Just let me finish. I know that you didn’t kill anyone in the market, or cause that water cleaning plant explosion.” 

A lump rises in Barry’s throat and Len stiffens beside him. The list of crimes he’s never committed just keeps growing longer by the minute. He can’t think of a reason why someone would want to destroy access to water when they’re in the middle of a desert. 

Iris continues talking. “I don’t know why the blame is being placed on the two of you. It’s just so fucked up.” Her voice becomes even more strained. “I swear I’m going find out what’s going on, but you can’t stay in the city, Barry. You’ll die if you do.” 

Barry opens his mouth to respond, but realizes he can’t think of anything to say. 

Len steps up to bat instead. “What are you suggesting?” 

The despondent expression on Iris’s face turns into something more resilient, brown eyes gaining a spark of fire. “Flee the city. No one will chase you once you step foot outside those gates.” She gestures vaguely in the direction of the city gates. When Barry begins to shake his head, she shoots him a look. “It’s the only chance you have to live. I’ve heard of people who have camps set up in the desert, a place to live. Everyone on the police force has direct orders to not stop looking for the two of you until you’re caught or found dead.” 

“I can’t leave you and Joe.” Barry manages to croak out. He hates how terrified he sounds. 

Iris stands up mechanically, gun still in her hand. “You have to go. I’m not going to be able to live with the fact that you were killed because of my actions. I was the one who tried to arrest you back in the market right before the shooting.” 

“You were only doing your job.” Barry says. “None of this is your fault.” 

Iris doesn’t acknowledge what he said. “There’s a horse tied up behind the barn. You and Snart can take it and make a break for the gates.” 

Len shifts next to Barry. “And the gun you’re holding?” 

Iris glances down at the gun in her hand, then back up. “It’s for a distraction.” She crosses the floor to embrace Barry tightly. 

Barry wraps his arms around her, holding her close. “I love you, Iris.” He knows he has no other choice but to do what Iris suggested. 

“I love you, too, Barry.” She pulls back, getting one last look at his face, the same thing Barry is doing with her. “I’m going to shoot myself in the arm. Take my gun after I do it and run. You’ll only have about a minute or so before the cops get here. It’ll give you extra time for a head start, and some of the cops will stay behind with me.” 

A protest is at the tip of Barry’s tongue about Iris injuring herself, but she’s already shooting the gun. Pain wracks her features as her blood splatters and runs down her arm. Len rushes to take the gun from her before grabbing Barry by his collar. He sets off for the back of the barn, shoving Barry through a large gap in the boards. Barry kicks himself into gear when he sets his sights on a horse tied up to the barn, fitted with a saddle and reins. 

The knot tied in the reins comes out easily enough. Barry grabs onto the saddle and hauls himself up, extending a hand to Len. Len hesitates for a fraction of a second before accepting Barry’s hand and mounting the horse behind Barry. Barry’s ridden horses enough to remember how to steer. He pulls on one side of the reins then digs his heels briefly into the horse’s sides. 

The horse turns to the city wall and sets off at a gallop almost immediately. Len clutches onto Barry so that he doesn’t fall off. The police have just entered the run-down barn, meaning there’s only a short window of time to gain distance. Barry sets his sight on the gates, looming like a huge dark omen about three miles ahead. 

Barry ducks low to the horse’s neck, willing it to run as fast as it can. Shouting starts up behind them, but he doesn’t dare look back. He can’t look back. The plants and animals around them rush past in a blur of colors, and ash finds its way into his eyes and mouth. He wants this to be a dream, to wake up right now, but the loud sound of gunshots assures him that he’s wide awake already. He didn’t even get to give a proper goodbye to Joe. 

*** 

Len has his arms wrapped around Barry’s midsection, hanging on for dear life. He’s never seen a horse. Definitely never ridden one. His arms and legs are already aching, and the gun he took from Iris is poking into his lower back. He’s waiting for the moment they’re outside the city so that he can let go and get off this goddamn creature. The gates are growing closer and the gunshots growing quieter. Soon, the gates are all he can see when he looks forwards. Behind him, the group of cops are becoming a blue blob. 

Len couldn’t have imagined how massive the wooden wall surrounding the city really was until he’s actually face-to-face with it. The walls looked so small from the auto repair shop. Lisa used to… Lisa. 

Len bites the inside of his cheek. He knows Lisa can take care of herself. She’s more than capable of running the repair shop on her own. Which is what she’ll end up doing if Len crosses the threshold into the desert. He considers jumping off the horse, trying to find a place in the farmlands to hide. But, no. If the police aren’t going to stop until he’s caught, Lisa will get dragged down with him in their search. If he’s not in the city, he doesn’t exist to the government anymore, and Lisa will be safe. 

Barry jerks one of his arms back, elbow hitting Len’s side. The horse starts moving to the right, and Len can see a multitude of guards standing at the closed gates. One of them must see Barry and Len approaching because he takes hold of a lever and pulls it. The sound of groaning wood grows louder as they get closer and closer to the opening doors. Only a few hundred feet and they’ll be at the wall. 

As the gate doors open wider, Len can see nothing but sand. It’s rushing into the city as they rush out of it. Len feels Barry tense up even more under his arms. He must be feeling the same apprehension Len had felt moments earlier. But then Barry gives a shout, urging the horse ahead. Len holds his breath involuntarily as they pass by the guards, who don’t seem to spare them a second glance. Then Barry and Len are passing the thick walls into the desert. 

Barry pulls back on the reins and the horse lifts up its front legs a couple feet as it comes to an abrupt stop. Len braces himself against Barry as the horse’s hooves hit the ground again. He looks back at the gates, which are closing once again. No guards or police are attempting to chase after them. No more gunshots, either. 

Len politely pries his arms off from around Barry’s waist, then slides off the horse. His legs are shaky, but he does his best to ignore it. Barry follows after him, looking distraught as he stares at the shut gates. Len stares at the gates, too. The heat is already seeping in, sweat forming on his brow. Wind picks up some of the sand, stinging his face as the grains hit him. 

Everything he’s ever known has just been left behind. 

Len and Barry turn to each other. Neither of them say anything, though. There’s really not much to say. Barry sighs, looking out at the desert. Len looks around as well, trying to find any sign of life but only finding more and more sand. 

After a couple of seconds, Barry hits Len on the arm. “There.” He says, pointing to his right. 

Len searches in that direction, seeing only sand once more. Then he sees it. A small dark cluster set not too far back from the wall. Even though the haze from the heat may be playing a trick on his eyes, he thinks he can see movement at the cluster. He hopes it’s one of the camps Iris mentioned. Len automatically starts moving towards it, adjusting the gun tucked into the top of his pants. Barry walks with him, tugging the horse along. And all around them, sand and heat becomes acquainted with their skin. 


	4. The First Camp

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Barry and Len arrive at the camp near the city walls.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [My tumblr](http://kitty-514.tumblr.com/)

Barry slips and stumbles in the sand, catching himself on the horse’s neck before he can fall. Len glances over at him from where he’s been walking by Barry’s side. He and Len have only been walking for half an hour but the heat is already much more stifling and brutal than inside the city. Both of them are drenched in sweat. Barry adjusts the strap on his satchel so it isn’t digging into the side of his neck. He’s been blinking profusely every time sweat drips into his eyes or the wind throws sand into his face, and his eyes have started to dry out. The city’s tall walls beside them have been a constant reminder of everything that’s just happened.

The camp is close enough that Barry can make out the details of the tents and the people mulling about. Even though they’ve been making their way toward the camp the whole time, it’s still a shock to see life. Everything around them has just been sand, sand, and more sand. To see people of all ages out here in the desert, it’s almost unreal. How many of them were pretty much chased out like Barry and Len? How many decided to leave voluntarily? 

Barry stares at a group of children kicking a ball around as he enters the camp with Len. One little girl gets a mouthful of sand as the ball hurtles past her head, barely missing her. She sits down heavily, tears springing to her eyes as she wipes at her tongue. Then she’s gone from sight as a tent comes between them. 

There’s much more color here than Barry thought there would be. The tents and clothes people are wearing are all various colors and shades. He even spots part of a garden in the middle of a cluster of tents, a swatch of greens, reds, yellows, oranges. Barry turns to Len, adjusting his satchel’s strap again. 

“Barry?” A voice calls from behind Len before Barry can speak. “Barry Allen?” 

Barry feels panic at first at being recognized, wondering if for some reason there are cops out here. He leans to look around Len. Len swivels his body a body a bit to look behind himself as well. Barry is filled with relief when he finds who was calling his name. 

“Eddie.” Barry breathes out. 

Eddie rushes up to him, pulling him into a quick hug. “What are you doing here? Is Iris okay?” He asks, holding Barry at arm’s length. Eddie is wearing a thin, white button-up shirt and long khaki pants, both stained with dirt. 

“It’s a long story. And Iris is fine. Kind of. Hopefully.” Barry catches Len's eye over Eddie’s shoulder, gaining him a questioning look. 

Eddie glances over at Len, turning to extend a hand. “Eddie Thawne. No relation to Central City president Eobard Thawne. Ex-undercover cop.” 

Len stares at the offered hand, but doesn’t move to take it. Eddie takes the hint and focuses back on Barry. 

“Uh, that’s Leonard. Leonard, Eddie used to date my sister Iris.” Barry supplies, noting Len sizing Eddie up. 

“Let me guess: he used to be criminal. All the criminals are suspicious of the cops in camp when they first arrive.” Eddie throws a grin at Len over his shoulder. “Don’t worry, nobody here cares who you used to be as long as you pull your own weight.” 

Barry starts talking over Len as soon as he hears the snarky tone of his voice. “I thought you were dead, Eddie. We all did. Iris was a wreck for weeks after you disappeared.” 

Eddie looks down, his blond hair catching the light and turning almost white. When he looks up, his blue-green eyes are filled with grief. “I was a wreck, too. I was investigating an underground black market ring. I slipped up, said something stupid while undercover. The guys running things got suspicious. Knocked me out and dragged me to the gates. They threw me out of the city while I was unconscious.” 

“And the guards at the gate let them do that to you?” 

“Anyone will open a gate for some money.” Eddie places his hands on his hips, forcing a grin. “Why don’t I show you two around? Being out here for a year and a half helps you get familiar with things.” 

Barry nods, about to get Len's input when he realizes that Len is gone. “Or just me.” He isn’t all that surprised that Len has left him now that they’re at the camp, but he feels a bit upset anyway. 

Eddie glances behind himself, realizing that Len is nowhere around. “Oh, uh, okay. We have some stables where you can tie up your horse. And you can tell me how you got out here with such an… interesting companion.” 

Barry follows Eddie to the stables, telling him his story along the way. Eddie listens intently, cringing when he hears about Iris shooting herself in the arm. He leads Barry over to the garden he saw earlier once he’s finished retelling everything. The garden is larger than he first thought, all the plants in raised beds. It’s covered by a big piece of plastic acting as a makeshift green house. Half the plants are in shade, and the other half are in the sun. 

Eddie sighs, running a hand through his hair. “Wow. I can’t believe all that happened to you. I’m sorry. But on the plus side, no one is going to come searching for you out here. Just don’t try and make it back into the city. I’ve seen a few people try to do it. They either fall miserably or end up getting killed by the guards inside. No one’s ever succeeded in reentering Central City. They don't even let the people who left voluntarily come back inside." 

“Great.” Barry responds sarcastically. 

Eddie shoots him a sympathetic look. “I’m not making things much better, am I? Let me go ahead and give you the camp tour.” He gestures to the garden in front of them. “Here’s our wonderful garden. Sometimes people escape to the desert with seeds on them, or pipeline workers bring them out after passing through the farms. We’ve got a drip irrigation system so that the plants always have enough water. Since the camp is only a good mile and a half wide, the garden is big enough to feed our huge population of two hundred people and forty or so animals. The animals are only ever brought out by escapees.” 

“Where do you get your water?” Barry asks, wiping at his sweaty brow. 

“Let me show you.” Eddie continues the tour to a group of four wells. There’s two families there, filling their own buckets with water. “We get all our water here. It’s tapped from the pipeline.” He grabs a lever on the well and turns it until a bucket filled with water and attached to a rope is within reach. “A scientist by the name of Harrison Wells and two of his colleagues came here a year ago. They immediately went to work on designing these wells, which clean the water of salt and impurities as it comes up through the pipeline. Something having to do with electrolysis.” He tilts the bucket toward Barry. “You should drink. Dehydration is the number one killer out in the desert.” 

It isn’t until now that Barry realizes how dry his throat and mouth is. Even his lips are becoming chapped. He picks up a cup perched on the edge of the well’s stone wall and fills it with water. Barry drinks it a little too quickly, chugging the water down as soon as the cool liquid hits his tongue. 

Eddie raises his eyebrows at him in an amused expression. “We’ve got plenty more, you know.” 

“Sorry. Thanks.” Barry says. He refills the cup before setting off with Eddie again, cradling the cup close to his chest. He hasn’t seen Len yet and he wonders where he went. While he’s happy to know someone here like Eddie, he’s still concerned that Len has completely ditched him now that they’re at the camp. 

Barry and Eddie are at the opposite end of the camp now, which is where most of the people live, as Eddie explains to him. There’s a lot more tents of all shapes and sizes gathered close together. Eddie briefly points out his own tent. Then Barry is led to the last leg of the tour. 

“We’ve got two- granted, tiny- restaurants here.” Eddie says. “My favorite is the one that cooks vegetables and fruits. The other one cooks fruits and vegetables. Completely different places.” 

Barry chuckles genuinely. “We missed you back in Central, Eddie. Especially Iris.” 

Eddie turns to him with a sad look. “I’ve missed her, too.” He reaches into his pocket and pulls something out. “I was going to ask her to marry me.” He shows Barry what’s in his hand. It’s a ring, diamond and gold and beautiful. “This was the only thing I had when I got thrown out here.” 

Barry feels a heaviness in his heart and lungs. “I’m so sorry, Eddie.” 

Eddie shakes his head. “It’s fine. Let’s go get some grub.” He pockets the ring and claps Barry on the back as he walks up to the small food stand. 

Barry stands next to him silently as Eddie gets the food, paying with what looks like polished stones. They sit down on a bench in the shade together. 

“Is there a leader of some sort?” Barry asks halfway through their food. 

“No. Everyone sort of coexists side-by-side. We all have jobs that we can exchange goods or money for. We’re all in this together, trying to survive, so we put cooperation first. It’s worked so far.” 

Barry falls quiet again, glancing at the slowly setting sun that’s turning the sand into a sea of red. 

*** 

Len slips away from Barry and Eddie when neither are looking at him. It’s been a long day and he isn’t up for Eddie’s inevitably friendliness and cheeriness. He wants to find a quiet corner to sit in for a while. 

A ball comes flying out of nowhere, towards a little girl sitting in the sand with tears trailing down her cheeks. He grabs the ball in midair before it comes too close to her, giving the other kids a warning look before throwing the ball back. He tries to adjust his scarf as he keeps walking, shaking sand out of it. Who knew sand could become so annoying so fast. 

Len takes note of four wells near the center of the camp. He sits down on a stone wall in the shade, a bit away from the wells. He closes his eyes for a second. When he opens them, a man is standing in front of him. The man has blonde hair covered mostly by a worn dark blue baseball cap, and blue eyes. He looks vaguely familiar. 

The man extends his hand out like Eddie had. “I’m Clyde Mardon. I haven’t seen you around before. You must be a new arrival.” 

Len doesn’t shake his hand. Mardon. He remembers the papers he was supposed to deliver were for a Mark Mardon. That’s why Clyde seems familiar- he looks similar to the photo of Mark. 

“You have a brother?” Len asks Clyde. 

Clyde drops his hand. “Yeah. Mark is his name. Are you friends with him?” He moves to sit next to Len, throwing his backpack down between them. 

“More like acquaintances.” It isn’t technically a lie. They would have met if Len hadn’t been caught with the papers. 

“We’ve been sending notes through some of the pipeline workers who come out here to do repairs. He’s supposed to be getting these fake papers to become a worker so that he can come out here without being stuck outside. I tried robbing a bank in the upper-class area but it went bad. Had to go on the run.” Clyde fiddles with his hands. 

“Good luck to him.” Len says in a detached manner. He didn’t come here to hear this guy’s life story. 

“Thanks.” Clyde says. “I better get going. Got work to do.” He picks up his stuff and gives a little salute before heading off. 

When Clyde is out of sight, Len takes off his own backpack and puts a pair of goggles, four weird food bars wrapped in foil, and Clyde’s wallet in it. He gazes over at the wells, hoping no one else will bother him. A couple minutes later, he spots Barry walking over with Eddie. Barry is as rumpled and tired-looking as Len feels. His face is smeared with dirt. Len shrinks back into the shade, holding back a smile when Barry chugs down a cup of water. He doesn’t want to get attached to the kid, but for some reason it’s hard not to. 

Len takes a deep breath, watching Barry and Eddie leave the wells, Barry holding a cup to his chest like his life depended on it. He’ll give himself a little bit longer alone, then try and find them. 

Which, as it turns out, isn’t hard. The camp is fairly small, after all. However, it’s a thriving place, and there’s people everywhere doing different types of labor. He spots the back of Barry’s head near two food stands and a clothing stand. He’s eating with Eddie on a bench, staring in the direction of the setting sun. 

Len rummages around in his backpack, throwing the goggles into Barry’s lap when he’s close enough. The kid was blinking so much on the way to the camp that Len thought he was collecting a pile of sand in his eyes. Barry jumps, grabbing the goggles before they fall off his legs. He looks up at Len, a sincere smile crossing his face. 

“Hey.” Barry says as Len sits down next to him. “I thought you’d ditched me.” He tries to hand the goggles back to Len, but Len pushes Barry’s hands back down. 

“Keep them. They’re yours.” Len pulls his hand back to himself and ignores Eddie’s searching gaze. 

“Thanks.” Barry says. He puts the goggles into his satchel. He directs his next question to Eddie. “Where are we supposed to sleep?” 

“I’m sure there’s a couple of extra tents lying around. I can get you two set up, maybe even find you jobs.” Eddie says. 

“No need to find me a job.” Len replies. 

Barry turns to Len with a confused look. “What do you mean?” 

“I’m not staying here.” Len avoids looking at Barry, who’s pulling a puppy dog face. “I can’t just sit by idly and pass my life by in a camp in the desert. I’m going to either find my way back into the city or head further out.” 

“I’m coming with you.” Barry says immediately. 

Len forces down a sigh. “Barry, no. You’d be safer here.” 

Barry leans forward closer to Len, ignoring Eddie who seems a bit lost and worried. “You’re not the only one who left a life behind, Len. Left family behind. If you’re going, I’m going with you. I want to help you, okay?” He’s got a fire in his eyes that startles Len. 

Len pauses, blinks, tells himself not to give in. “Fine. You can come with me. Just don’t hold me back.” He inwardly curses himself and Barry’s hazel eyes for swaying him. 

Len gets a nod from Barry in return. He should probably regret letting Barry tag along with him but he doesn’t. Yet. 

Eddie finally speaks up, his gaze intensely focused on Len. “Getting back into Central is dangerous. Impossible. If Barry gets hurt, I’ll find you and kill you.” 

“Noted.” Len replies before turning his gaze to the setting sun. 


	5. A Cop and a Crook

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Getting some Lisa and Iris action in this chapter.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [My tumblr](http://kitty-514.tumblr.com/)

Iris tries not to shift around too much as she stands at the back of the outdoor stage in the upper class sector. A sea of people and cameras is focused completely on Eobard Thawne, the president of Central City. He’s on his second term, having been in office for five years now. Iris doesn’t trust the man. She’s almost entirely convinced that the last election was rigged in his favor. She’s heard stories of how he has Congress and the Electoral College in the palm of his hand. She’s harbored some resentment towards him over the years at his inaction towards crime in the lower sectors. But Iris has to admit that she has some respect for the amount of power Eobard wields and his ability to keep an entire city in his grasp.

Eobard is at the front of the stage in his wheelchair, talking into a microphone about how great this city is, how much it’s improved since he’s been in office. Iris bites down on her tongue. Central City hasn’t gotten any better since he came into power. There’s been more crime, more poverty, more disease in the lower classes. The crowd that he’s speaking too, though, full of the rich and the government controlled reporters won’t complain about their higher standard of living. They’ll believe the propaganda. 

Iris snaps to attention when she hears her name mentioned. Eobard is giving a spiel about Iris’s bravery and service in getting the wanted ‘fugitives’ to leave Central. After the whole incident, Iris had been approached by one of Eobard’s agents. She was told that she was to be rewarded publicly for her actions. Iris tried to argue her way out of it, saying she had nothing to do with Barry and Len leaving, but she couldn’t weasel her way out of this. She felt terrible already about what happened with Barry, and she didn’t want another reminder about it. Her arm had been in pain the past two days. The bullet went clean through and she’s been taking painkillers but they’d done nothing to dull the pain. It’s been keeping her up at night, making her more tired than ever. 

“If Officer West would be so kind as to come up here with me.” Eobard is saying, gesturing back at Iris. 

Iris puts on her best fake smile as she strides to the front of the stage amidst the sound of applause. She stands next to Eobard stiffly, hands clasped behind her back. His assistant rushes over to hand him a small, flat box, then runs back off the stage. Eobard maneuvers his wheelchair to face Iris and opens the box. 

“You’ll have to lean down, Officer West. I’m a little shorter than you.” He says jokingly. 

Iris leans down enough for Eobard to pin a new badge on her uniform. Then he grabs her neck roughly enough for it to hurt her but not enough to look suspicious to the crowd. He pulls her down further. He smiles at her kindly the whole time. 

“You listen to me.” Eobard whispers harshly into her ear. “You work for me, whether you realize it or not. I have ears and eyes everywhere. You and all the other cops were given orders to bring Allen and Snart in so that they could be killed. But you just couldn’t handle seeing you ‘brother’ die in front of you, could you? You ruined my plans. Just know that if you ever try to undermine me again, you’ll be paying the price. I know you love your father as much as Mr. Allen.” 

The second Eobard lets go of Iris, she stumbles back away from him. He still has that smile on his face, as if he hadn’t just threatened her and her dad. Iris’s stomach clenches in fear. She can’t take her eyes off him as he turns back to the crowd and finishes his speech. 

“Officer West is being promoted to the upper class sector police force. We’re excited to have such a wonderful officer among us. I’m sure she’ll do her best to protect each of us. Thank you for coming out today.” Eobard backs up from the microphone, signaling the end of his speech. 

Iris gets off the stage as soon as she can, especially when Eobard shoots her a warning glance from the other side of the stage. She can’t go home yet and talk to her dad about everything that’s happened. It’s too early in the day and she has to go into her new job. It just makes her more terrified. 

Iris wraps her arms around herself as she wanders through the streets of the upper class. She works her way to the police station, vaguely familiar with where it is. The rich area is always clean and inviting, nothing like the inner parts of the city. She doesn’t want to be here, though. She wants to be back near the market where she’s comfortable with her surroundings. Where she knows people. 

When Iris finds the police station and enters it, she’s met with belittling stares from all the other cops. She knows something is off. And her suspicions are confirmed when one of the cops comes up to her and hands her a letter. Iris reads it over, her heart falling. She’s being transferred into a position as a bank security guard. She was never going to work here at the station. Eobard made sure of that. 

Iris keeps her expression carefully neutral as she makes her way into the restroom. Thankfully, it’s empty. She locks herself in the nearest stall. She leans up against the stall door, grabbing handfuls of her hair and pulling on it painfully. Iris feels like she’s about to fall apart, just like everything else around her. She doesn’t know what Eobard had planned with Barry and Leonard, but it couldn’t have been good. Not when he’d threatened her like that. Maybe he was going to use them for more propaganda. Use them as props for his position. 

It takes a few deep breaths, but Iris forces herself to let go of her hair and exit the stall. Her reflection stares back at her in the mirror above the sinks. She looks sick and fed up. The badge on her chest glints brightly in the fluorescent lights. Anger flares up in Iris and she rips the badge off her uniform, chucking it into the trashcan. Her arm pangs with pain briefly but she powers through, exiting the restroom and police station with her head held high. 

The bank she’s been transferred to is only a few streets over. It’s made almost entirely of glass, reflecting any sunlight streaming through the plastic roof overhead. The large silver letters on the front of the building read ‘Park Bank.’ Iris sighs quietly, steeling herself. With one last look at herself in the mirror-like glass door as she smooths down her hair, she makes her way inside. 

*** 

Lisa crumples up the note in her hand, fighting the urge to go on a rampage. Four days ago, Lenny was inside the city, working alongside her in the boat repair shop. Now, he’s stuck out in the desert with some kid named Barry. Lenny had managed to get a note to Lisa through a pipeline worker, knowing that she’d return to the shop once she heard about him being outside the city. He’d written to her, saying not to worry about him and that he’d found a camp that he could live at if he couldn’t find a way back into the city. 

Everywhere Lisa went today, the holographic screens on the sides of buildings had been broadcasting President Thawne’s big speech about how happy he was with Officer West managing to get the two ‘fugitives’ out. But West herself didn’t look near as happy. Her fake smile was sour in close-up shots of her face. Then when Thawne had pulled her in close, seeming like he was saying friendly things with that smile plastered on his face, West had looked afraid. It immediately made her distrust the man. Lisa later learned from gossip that this Officer West- apparently Iris is her first name- has a brother named Barry Allen. The same Barry that Lenny had told Lisa he was with. 

That fact was what helped push Lisa over the edge after she read Len’s note. She’s worried, of course. Her brother is in the desert and she has to do something to bring him and maybe even Barry back inside. But she can’t do anything from the lower-middle class sector. She has to work her way up, close to Thawne. It’s the only way she can get something done. 

Lisa jumps on the next boat to the farmlands, seeing as none of the boats go straight to the upper class area. She’s leaving the repair shop behind. She’s leaving all of her stuff behind. She won’t need any of it. Once the boat docks in the farmlands a couple hours later, she gets off and starts walking south. Lisa hardly even pays attention to the scenery around her. 

When Lisa is finally in the upper class area, she tries not to be overwhelmed. People keep staring at her in her mechanic coveralls, stained with grease just like her skin. She needs new clothes. Lisa spots an older man in a shopping area, browsing into the windows. He’s not paying attention to what’s around him, and it’s easy to pickpocket him and take his wallet. She takes his credit card and dumps the wallet in the trash. 

Lisa goes into the first clothing store she comes to. Inside, it smells like expensive perfume, and there’s an abundance of clothes in various colors. The young woman working the cash register is glaring at her, clearly suspicious. Lisa grabs a few outfits, two pairs of shoes, and a purse. Then she puts everything on the counter in front of the woman. Lisa puts on her best pouty, ‘I’m about the cry’ face. 

“Please don’t look at me like I’m some lower class scum.” Lisa says in a whiny voice, one she’s sure a spoiled rich girl would use. “My boyfriend- ex-boyfriend, now- had this weird fetish for mechanics. He liked to see me dressed up, but then we got into a fight. He was so mad that he burned all my stuff. Burned it! Can you believe that?” She covers her face with a hand, trying to look convincing. She even lets a tear slip out. “I had to get out of there fast. It feels so terrible to lose all those beautiful clothes. Everyone has been staring at me like I’m this low-life when I’m not. It’s all his fault. At least I made off with his credit card.” Lisa peaks at the cashier through her fingers. 

The woman has a sympathetic expression on her face. “Oh. My. God!” She squeaks out, and Lisa barely manages not to cringe. “That’s so terrible! I had a boyfriend like that a couple years ago, so I know how you feel.” 

Lisa watches as the woman checks out everything. Well, that was easier than she thought it would be. She hands over the stolen credit card, and the cashier accepts it. Lisa is handed a plastic bag with her purchases in it and the credit card soon after. 

Lisa spots a restroom in the back. “Do you mind if I change here?” 

“Not at all.” The cashier says. “I totally understand not wanting to be dressed like _that_ any longer than you have to.” 

“Thanks.” Lisa replies, trying to keep bitterness out of her voice. She doesn’t appreciate being made fun of indirectly. 

The restroom is cleaner than any Lisa has ever been in and it makes her feel even more resentful. She pushes past that, stripping off her coveralls and throwing them away. She cleans herself off with the fancy hand soap and clean water from the sink. After she scrubs at her skin enough, she wipes herself off with paper towels. Lisa puts on a cream colored dressed embellished with gold threading. She lets her hair down, fixing it into place. When Lisa looks into the mirror, she doesn’t recognize herself for a second. She’s never seen herself in anything but a dirty, broken mirror her whole life. It’s a shock to really see herself for the first time. Long curly hair cascades down past her shoulders and chest and blue eyes similar to Lenny’s stare back at her. 

Lisa grips the sink hard for a moment until she can collect herself. She pulls on a pair of gold colored heels. Then she gathers her stuff up and exits the shop, sparing a glance and smile at the cashier. 

Lisa heads down the sidewalk, searching for one building in particular. It’s a weird feeling to have concrete beneath her feet instead of a wooden walkway two feet above the water’s surface. There’s no stagnant smell, either. It’s all fresh air and fresh faces passing her by. 

About ten blocks down, she spots a glass building names ‘Park Bank.’ This is her stop. Lisa pushes open a glass door, walking inside with an air of confidence. All she has to do is look like she belongs. The bank is large, with at least five floors. Each floor above the first contains offices belonging to people who make more in a month than she will in a lifetime. She glances to her left and recognizes Officer West standing by the bank tellers’ counter. Their eyes met across the room. It feels like the air is sucked out of her lungs. Iris seems to vaguely recognize Lisa, straightening up from where she had been leaning against the counter. So this is what the woman who was honored by President Thawne gets. Lisa feels a pang of anger at Iris’s treatment. 

Lisa manages to tear her eyes away and looks to her right. She sees who she came here for. A woman in a black pant suit is sitting at an oval conference table in the open, reading over some papers. Lisa goes over to her, placing a hand on the woman’s shoulder. 

“Miss Park.” Lisa says, pulling Linda’s attention away from the papers in her hands. “Do you have a moment?” 

Recognition crosses Linda’s face. “Lisa Snart. It’s been a while.” She stands up, immediately leading Lisa to an office off to the side. She opens the door and ushers Lisa in before closing it with a soft click. Linda had finally taken over her father’s business, if the name tag on the desk said anything. 

“Chairwoman Park, huh?” Lisa perches herself on the edge of Linda’s large metal desk. “I’m calling in my favor. I want to use your empty vacation house that you told me about. And I want a credit card.” 

Linda places her hands on her hips as she stands in front of Lisa. She flips her dark brown hair out of her face, which is pulled into a tight expression. “Look, I-” 

Lisa holds up a hand, cutting her off. “Did you forget when I saved your life back in the manufacturing sector? When your bodyguards turned on you after a business deal there and tried to kill you? Who was it that got you out of there alive? Oh, yes, it was me.” 

Linda fidgets, then her face softens. She drops her hands from her hips. “I remember. It’s kind of hard to forget. Why do you need these things, though? Is it because of what happened to your brother?” 

“Yes.” Lisa responds plainly. “I have a plan but I can’t pull it off unless I’m here in the upper class sector with some money to spare.” 

“Fine.” Linda replies. She moves behind her desk and opens a drawer. She searches around before pulling out some keys and handing them to Lisa. “The house is on the border of the farmlands, on the north side of the city. Just look for a red house. There’s not many houses there, so it shouldn’t be too hard to find.” 

Lisa takes the keys gratefully and puts them in her new purse. “Thank you.” 

“I’ll set up an account for you along with a credit card. The transactions can go through me so that you don’t have to pay anything. Give me a little while to do it.” Linda sits down at her desk. She begins typing on her computer, fingers flying. 

Lisa watches her warily the whole time. It’s only when Linda hands her a credit card and account information a half hour later that Lisa begins to relax. She’s back out near the bank tellers’ counter. She can feel Iris’s eyes on her, but doesn’t look in her direction. 

“I appreciate all of this. Really.” Lisa says, extending a hand. 

Linda shakes her hand, talking in a low voice to avoid been overheard by any clients or workers. “Good luck with whatever convoluted plan you’ve got going on in that head of yours. You’re a dangerous and smart woman. I’m sure you can do something to help your brother.” 

“I hope so.” Lisa says. Then she goes to exit the bank, catching Iris’s eye once more. Instead of leaving, though, Lisa goes over to her. “I’m Lisa Snart.” She says, introducing herself. “It seems we’ve got some things in common.” 


	6. The Raid

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nothing good last forever.
> 
> tw for violence

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whoo boy it's been a long time since I updated. I apologize for that.

Barry keeps hearing the screams from the market, keeps seeing the face of the dead child when he closes his eyes. Sleep barely comes and leaves him restless in the tiny tent Eddie helped set up. Barry wraps his arms around himself, trying to gain some warmth and will the noises in his head away.

“Barry!” Comes a harsh whisper. 

Barry’s eyes snap open. He bends part of his body to look at the flap of the tent, which is now open. Eddie is there, crouched down, highlighted by oranges and reds. Is it morning already? The panicked expression on Eddie’s face disorients Barry for a moment. Then he realizes that there’s fire behind Eddie, tents set ablaze. There’s no sun out yet. The screams Barry is hearing are real. 

Barry scrambles out of the tent after grabbing his bag, knocking into Eddie on his way out. Eddie grabs him by the jacket collar, throwing him to the ground among the tents. Barry looks out across the camp, seeing lumps scattered across the ground. He belatedly understands that the lumps are bodies when his eyes adjust to the lighting. The fire hasn’t quite reached where the two of them are. 

“What’s going on?” Barry asks hurriedly, wiping sand off his face. 

“Raiders.” Eddie whispers roughly, laying low next to Barry in between two tents. He cringes when a woman’s scream comes from across the camp. “They’re killing anything that moves. We need to find a place to hide.” 

Fear grips Barry. “Len.” He says. “Where is Len?” 

Eddie gives him an incredulous look. “I don’t know. I came to you as soon as I saw the raid happening.” 

Barry knows he should stay where he is, find a place to hide with Eddie. But he can’t just abandon Len. Someone rides by on a horse a few feet away, stabbing at bodies with a long spear. Barry shrinks further into the ground. What if Len is dead? No, don’t think about that. 

Eddie grasps Barry’s arm before he can even think about moving. “Don’t.” He says quietly but forcefully. “You’ll get yourself killed if you go searching for him.” 

Barry wrenches his arm free from Eddie’s hand. Someone shouts behind them. Both Barry and Eddie turn their heads around, trying to find the source of the voice. Eddie makes a choking noise all of a sudden, his body being dragged to the side. Barry immediately looks up and into the face of a man who has his knife buried up to the hilt in the side of Eddie’s neck. The man grins wickedly before pulling the knife out with a sickening squelch. 

Barry is frozen for half a second, long enough for the man to disappear back among the tents silently. Then Barry shouts and reaches for Eddie. He places his hands over the wound on Eddie’s neck, trying to stop the bleeding. Eddie stares at him, terrified. 

“It’s okay. You’re going to be okay.” Barry repeats over and over as Eddie bleeds out. God, there’s so much blood. 

Eddie tries to pry Barry’s hands away weakly, shaking his head. He attempts to say something but it comes out as a gurgle, blood spilling out of his mouth. 

“No. No. You’re fine.” Barry practically pleads. 

Eddie reaches into his pocket, pulling something out and dropping it. He takes a few more shallow breaths before his eyes glaze over and his chest stutters to stop. 

“Oh, god, no. Please don’t do this Eddie.” Barry begs, hot tears streaming down his face. “Please, no.” 

“I’ve got one over here!” Someone yells, far too close to Barry even though he’s not yet visible. 

Barry closes Eddie’s eyes, apologizing to him. He runs his hands through the sand until he finds the engagement ring Eddie had meant to give Iris. Barry lets out a pitiful sob before putting the ring in his pocket and standing up. He needs to find Len. 

Barry turns around, coming face-to-face with another raider, a pair of cracked glasses sitting crooked on his nose. There’s a second-long stare-down between the two of them until the raider rears back, blue eyes flashing in the firelight, and swings something at Barry. The blunt object slams into Barry’s head, knocking him to the ground. Pain floods in quickly. His vision goes black for a moment. Barry is convinced that he’ll die here. 

He glances up at the raider, blinking away the static in his vision. The man is looking to his right, baseball bat in one hand, making a sign with the other. Barry sees the opportunity. He quickly begins dragging himself away, behind a tent. He manages to get his feet underneath himself. 

The world spins around Barry and he starts to go down again. Strong hands grab him under his arms and he can feel a body against his back. Barry opens his mouth to scream. 

One of the hands clasps over his mouth. “Don’t you dare scream, Barry Allen.” 

*** 

Len holds Barry close to him, one hand over Barry’s mouth. Len’s a light sleeper, so when people had started screaming and moving about, he’d woken up immediately in his tent. He’d managed to grab his backpack and avoid the attackers while he searched for Barry. But it was going to be much harder to hide now. Too many people- and animals- who had been living in the camp were already dead. Len and Barry would only get caught up in their clean-up sweep. It seemed that the raiders only cared about killing, not robbing. 

“We need to go right now.” Len whispers in Barry’s ear. 

Barry nods and Len drops his hands from Barry. Barry sways dangerously on his feet. Len catches sight of all the blood on Barry’s hands and the blood running down his head. 

“Are you-” Len starts to say. 

Barry interrupts him. “It’s not all mine.” He slurs. 

Len moves to place one of Barry’s arms around his shoulders. He practically drags Barry along, trying to find a hiding spot. If he can make it to the stables, maybe- 

Something cold and thin wraps around Len’s neck, then snaps tight. He's pulled back violently as Barry is ripped away from him. Len’s thrown to the ground and on top of raider. The raider keeps the wire taut, cutting into Len’s neck sharply. Len can just see Barry being pushed to the ground by a second raider. 

Len tries to pry the wire off his neck, tries to get the man underneath him to let go, but he can’t. He can’t even breathe. It’s more frightening than he could’ve imagined. Everything starts to go black, the pain fading. 

Len vaguely catches the sound of a fleshy _thunk_. Then another. And another. He think he can feel the wire around his neck loosen and hear Barry talking to him urgently, but it’s too difficult for him to concentrate. 

*** 

Barry shakes Len, hoping that he’ll come to, but he doesn’t. A bright red line runs across his throat, blood running down in a thin stream. He’s still breathing, though, even if Barry can see him struggling to do so. Barry moves to grab Len under his arms. He avoids looking at the man under him who currently has a knife sticking out of his head. The other woman who attacked Barry ended up in a similar state when Barry managed to wrench the knife away from her. He can’t think about the fact that he just killed two people. Not right now. 

Barry gags but doesn’t throw up. He forces himself to pull Len away from the scene. He has just barely enough strength to do it. The stall that had sold food is right there, still standing. Barry goes to it. When he’s inside the stall, he collapses beside Len. If anyone found them here, he wouldn’t be able to fight them off. 

Barry lays on his side, staring at Len form in the dark. He watches Len’s chest carefully, following each inhalation and exhalation. He doesn’t hear anymore screaming, just the sound of fire crackling and consuming wood and cloth and bodies. Barry doesn’t even have the energy to think anymore. He's so exhausted. 

It’s not until a couple hours later that Barry moves again. He shakes Len until he wakes up. Len grabs Barry’s hands hard enough to hurt, a bewildered look on his face. 

“It’s alright, Len. It’s just me.” Barry reassures him hurriedly. “I’m not going to hurt you.” 

Len calms down, nodding. It’d probably be too painful for him to speak. 

Barry stands up slowly. His head starts pounding at full force but he ignores it long enough to help Len stand up. Len bends over, trying to catch his breath. Barry places a hand on his back without thinking. 

“We should… get… out of… here.” Len says slowly in between each labored breath, staring at the ground. His voice is hushed and raspy. 

Barry nods even though Len can’t see him do so. “Yeah.” 

“Pipeline.” Len says. He spits and straightens up. “Follow it.” 

“Okay.” Barry drops his hand from Len’s back and goes out of the stall. 

Outside, the sun us just starting to rise. Some of the fires are still burning. The scent of burnt _everything_ assaults Barry’s senses. The ground is covered in dead bodies and blood. Barry finally throws up, stomach acid burning his throat. He clutches at his head and tries to breathe calmly. 

Len crouches next to Barry. He gently loops his arm around Barry’s arm and pulls him back up. Barry leans into him heavily. They pick their way through the camp. Barry tries to avoid looking down. They work back to the tents and scavenge for extra food and clothing, though there’s not much. One of the tents that didn’t burn down holds a lonely ball. 

Eddie’s body is still outside Barry’s tent, bloody and pale in the new light. Barry freezes. Eddie is dead. It hits Barry all over again, the reality sinking in fully this time. If he had only seen the raider approaching, he could have done something. Eddie might still be alive if he had. 

“I’m sorry.” Len whispers to Barry. 

Barry doesn’t reply. He tears his eyes away from Eddie, tugging Len to another tent. 

*** 

Len watches as Barry bends down to grab a stray shirt, rocking back onto his heels. This whole mess was a bloodbath. Almost everything is in ashes. If there are any other survivors besides him and Barry, he hasn’t seen them. 

They refill their water bottles at a well. At least the water is clean. Barry cleans his hands off at the well, too, the water in the bucket turning red. Len can see him pointedly not looking at his reflection in the water. 

Len coughs, his throat constricting painfully. He can feel blood running down his throat. He has to take a moment to regain his composure when Barry comes back over to him. 

Barry watches him warily, probably trying to decide whether to say anything to Len. “Do you think there are any horses left?” Barry asks instead. 

Len shakes his head minutely, remembering all the slaughtered animals he had seen earlier. “Have to walk.” 

Barry nods. He pulls out a scarf from his bag and looks at Len with a question in his eyes. Len stares at the scarf, then takes his own off. Barry moves carefully towards him, wrapping the scarf around his throat as a makeshift bandage. 

“Thanks.” Len says softly. 

They head for the pipeline together. There has to be other camps set up along it. Hopefully, they’re still intact. 

Len finds the pipeline, which has been dug out of the sand by workers doing repairs. He follows it carefully, the metal peeking up at him as if it knows what they just went through. The sun is starting to climb higher into the sky, harsher and hotter with each inch it ascends. The wind is picking up, throwing sand at them. It’s going to be a long day.


	7. A Tent in the Desert

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Well this took me ten years to update and I apologize so much for that. I'm hoping to get back on track with this story now that I have more time and motivation for it.

The blood in Barry’s veins feels like it’s going to boil itself out of existence. His head is pounding and his mouth is gritty with stray sand. He stumbles briefly, legs threatening to fail him. Len grips Barry’s arm to stabilize him.

“I’m fine.” Barry rasps out automatically. They’ve been walking along the unearthed pipeline for what feels like hours. Their water is almost gone. The sun is directly above them, looming high above like a watchful eye. It’s too bright even with his goggles on. Barry can’t quite make out Len’s expression either since his face is half-covered by his scarf and goggles, but he can tell that Len isn’t convinced by Barry’s words. 

Len unwraps the scarf from his neck, exposing the bright red line running across it. He wraps it around Barry’s face, even though Barry tries to protest. Len squeezes Barry’s arm gently, hesitates briefly, then pulls Barry close to his side so that they can lean against each other. Barry wants to thank Len but can’t find any more energy to speak. 

It feels like each step takes an eternity, so much so that Barry finds himself staring down at his feet and counting how long it takes for each foot to hit the ground. He never quite gets an exact estimate though. Len suddenly shakes Barry, bringing him back to reality. 

Barry glances up, catching a glimpse of what looks like a large white tent about a hundred yards off. He prays that it’s not a mirage. Len gives him a small push, setting them back into motion. The closer they get to the tent, the more convinced Barry is that it’s real. 

When the two of them are five yards away, three people appear from a flap in the tent. They rush towards him and Len. 

“You guys look terrible.” One of them says, a man with long brown hair and a faded and torn t-shirt with some obscure logo on it. 

“Get them into the tent. We’ll need to examine them, Caitlin.” Another says, a man about in his fifties with unruly brown hair and a look of detachment on his face. 

“Cisco, go get them some water.” Says a woman with long golden brown hair, who must be Caitlin, turning to both men in turn. “Harry, I’ll make sure they’re not injured too badly.” 

Harry nods and Cisco rushes into the tent. Caitlin ushers Len and Barry in as well, to a makeshift med bay, full of boxes labeled as containing medical supplies. Barry collapses into a nearby chair that Caitlin had pulled out and rips the scarf off his face, then the goggles. Len sits down next to him in another chair, pulling his own goggles off. Barry winces and makes protesting noises when Caitlin pokes and prods at him. Len, for the most part, is quiet, even when Caitlin works on making sure his throat isn’t going to bleed anytime soon. 

Barry manages to grit out a ‘thank you’ when Cisco hands him a flask of water. He only just convinces himself not to chug it all down in one go, instead taking large sips periodically while watching Caitlin bandage Len’s throat. Len just keeps scooting further and further back from her. 

The flask is passed between them when Caitlin is done with the bandaging. Len accepts the flask graciously. 

“How long were you two wandering the desert?” Cisco asks, pulling up a chair. 

“Less than a day.” Barry replies, his voice scratchy. 

Len hands the flask back to Barry. “We were in a camp by the wall. Raiders came and destroyed the place last night.” 

“The people in the camp…” Caitlin trails off. 

“Most of them are dead.” Len says bluntly. 

Caitlin and Cisco both look mortified. Barry doesn’t blame them. He’s still in shock over Eddie’s death. 

“Who raided the camp?” It’s Harry who speaks, having entered the med bay quietly. 

“We don’t know.” Barry replies. “There were a lot of them.” 

“Did they use hand signals?” Cisco asks. 

Barry thinks back, remembering the man who’d hit him with the bat. “Yeah, I guess some of them did.” 

Caitlin exchanges a look with Cisco. “Shawna and Hartley.” She says quietly. 

Cisco nods in agreement. He turns back to Len and Barry. “You two should be dead right now. Sorry if that’s a little heavy, but Shawna Baez, the leader of that raider group, is cold-blooded. She and her minions kill everyone they set their sights on. We used to know one of the people in the group, Hartley. He used to work with us before he left the city.” 

“These two can count themselves lucky that they’re alive.” Harry says. 

Cisco shoots him a look. “They don’t seem very lucky to me.” 

“What is this place?” Len asks, interrupting them. 

“My lab. Our lab.” Harry answers, gesturing to Cisco and Caitlin. 

Now that Barry is gaining his wits back, he can’t help but stare at Harry. “You look just like-” 

“President Thawne.” Harry interrupts. “I know. He’s my twin brother. And, no, we don’t have the same last name because he changed it years ago.” 

“Harry and me and Cisco used to work in the main government lab a couple years ago.” Caitlin supplies. “Thawne exiled us when he found out we were working on a project to expand the water purification process to the whole city.” 

“Ungrateful, greedy bastard.” Harry mutters to himself. “At least his pipeline workers hate him enough to smuggle out parts for me.” 

“As you can see, Harry and his brother aren’t on speaking terms anymore.” Cisco says. “Not that they could talk out here anyway.” 

“But you said that this here is a lab.” Barry says. 

Harry nods. “We’re still working on the water project, but spreading it to the various camps around us. The camp by the wall was one of them.” 

*** 

Len sits back and half-listens to the conversation going on. He’s antsy. Doesn’t like being here with people he barely knows. They could be lying about anything, for all he knows. And it creeps him out that Harry has the same face as Thawne. 

Len registers Barry giving them their names. He shoots Barry a look but Barry doesn’t catch it. At some point, he hears Barry agreeing to help out on some of the projects the three of them are working on. 

“Shouldn’t you rest first?” Len interjects. 

“Yeah, both of you should.” Cisco says. “There’s some extra cots laying around somewhere.” He wanders off to go find them. Caitlin and Harry excuse themselves soon after. 

“You can rest before me, Barry.” Len says. 

Barry gives him a puzzled look. “What do you mean?” 

“I don’t trust them just yet.” 

“But they practically saved our lives, Len. Why would they do that if they were just going to hurt us?” 

Len frowns. “It’s a lab in the middle of the desert. Until they otherwise prove themselves trustworthy, I’m not giving them the benefit of the doubt.” 

Barry sets his mouth into a straight line but doesn’t argue. He’s quiet when Cisco comes back to lead them to the cots. Barry lays down with his back turned to Len, but Len doesn’t comment on it. Barry will get over it soon enough. 

Len sits down on his own cot. He listens to the sound of Barry’s breathing slowing down until it’s at the tell-tale lull of sleep. Len glances over at Barry’s form, thin and almost fragile in the darkened interior of the tent. He sighs. Barry shouldn’t be out here. Len knows he shouldn’t be out here, either, but Barry hadn’t committed any crimes in his life. It was unfair. 

Len finds his hands clenched into fists and unclenches them with a conscious effort. It _was_ unfair. The two of them had lives and family and friends back in the city. What if neither of them ever got to see their loved ones again? Len couldn’t stand the thought and it ate at him, making him furious. 

There had to be a way back into the city, and Len would find it. And when he did, he’d kill Thawne for letting all of this happen. 

When both he and Barry had gotten rest, they wander around the tent together. Caitlin is back in the med bay by herself, sorting through boxes. Cisco and Harry are in a workshop area, tinkering with their own projects at a table. Len spots a pair of guns sitting on their own table. 

“And just what do these do?” Len asks curiously, standing next to the guns. 

“Cold and heat guns.” Cisco answers without looking up from his project. “One shoots ice and the other shoots flames. They work off engines emitting particles at just the right temperatures. Pretty cool, huh? Pun intended.” 

“Very cool.” Len drawls. He catches Harry studying him but ignores it. 

“Hey, guys?” Caitlin yells from across the tent. “We have more visitors.” 

Everyone exchanges looks, and moves outside to see who’s arrived. In front of the tent is a rust-colored semi-truck covered in dust. It looks like a patch quilt of spare parts that don’t match, and there’s a large garden in bloom inside a green house on the truck bed. Len blinks at the contraption for a long moment. 

The door on the driver’s side swings open dramatically and a man with brown hair set perfectly in place jumps out onto the ground. “Hey, everyone! How’s it going?” 

“Ray, you’re back!” Cisco grins and gives him a hug. “How’s the new tank working out for you?” 

“Amazing. The truck’s never run better.” Ray responds with a blinding smile. 

Len notices someone else walking around the truck from the passenger’s side. He’s in disbelief for a second. “Mick?” 

Mick looks over at him, then grins. “Len, it’s been a while since I’ve seen you.” He comes up to Len and claps him on the shoulder. 

“This is where you’ve been the entire time?” Len asks. 

“Unfortunately. They kicked me out after I set fire to a factory.” Mick looks unapologetic about it. “Got picked up by Ray here. He’s a good guy, if a little _too_ good. I swear, sometimes I can see sunshine coming out of his ass.” 

“Love you, too, buddy.” Ray shouts happily at Mick before turning back to Cisco, Caitlin, and Harry. 

Len turns to Barry, who seems a bit lost with the reunions going on. “Barry, this is Mick, one of my close friends.” 

“Aren’t you a scrawny kid.” Mick says, shaking Barry’s hand. 

“I, uh, guess.” Barry says, his arm moving comically in time with Mick’s handshake. “You’re… very buff.” 

Mick laughs. “I like you, kid. Len, why don’t you come along with me and Ray? Bring the kid, too.” 

Len exchanges a glance with Barry, assessing Barry’s reaction. Barry shrugs, seeming open to the idea. 

“Where are you going?” Len asks. 

“Further away from Central City. We’re trying to get to what people are calling Starling City. Heard they’re right by the ocean.” Mick responds. 

“Is there no way back into Central?” Barry asks. “I thought that’d be the place to go.” 

Ray walks over to them. “Not yet, no. We can’t destroy the pipeline and we can’t burn the walls down- _Mick_ \- because both would have disastrous consequences. One of our only hopes is to make it to Starling City and try to find a bargaining chip with them. Maybe get a representative to threaten to cut off Central’s water supply unless they let the exiles back in. But we won’t know until we get there, and we could definitely use some extra help.” 

Len turns to Barry. “It’s better than sitting on our hands waiting here. And I trust Mick.” 

Barry seems to consider everything for a moment. “You’re right. It’s better than waiting. We both want to get back into the city as soon as we can.” 

Len nods, then turns back to Mick and Ray. “We’ll go with you.” 

Ray grins. “Great! New crew members for the Desert Cruiser II.” 

“What happened to the first Desert Cruiser?” Barry asks curiously. 

Rays grin falters. “We don’t speak about the Great Disaster of ’14.” 

“Oh, boy.” Len whispers to himself. “I’m immediately regretting this.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [My tumblr](http://kitty-514.tumblr.com)


	8. Travelers

Barry watches Len from the entrance to the tent, tinkering with a small broken radio Cisco had handed to him a half-hour ago. They’ve been at the tent for about a week now while Ray and Cisco worked on one of the systems attached to it, and all the while Len barely seemed to relax. Len and Mick are going over the semi-truck now and making sure everything is in working order, moving around one another like old friends.

As Ray had briefly explained to Barry, the Desert Cruiser II had been salvaged when it’d been left behind by some pipeline workers after it had broken down outside. It runs mainly on solar energy but has a backup engine that runs on the electrolysis of water. There’s a water purification system on the bed, provided by Harry, that works for drinking water and for watering the plants in the green house. The cab of the truck holds up to five people for traveling, with an extra storage space behind the backseat. All-in-all, Barry is impressed by it. 

“Barry.” 

Barry snaps to, blinking up at Len standing in front of him. Len must’ve been calling his name for a while. 

“What’s up?” Barry responds. 

Len squats down so he’s closer to being on Barry’s level. “Are you sure you want to do this?” He seems genuinely concerned. 

Barry sighs and puts the radio down on a nearby table. “Yeah. I trust you, and you trust Mick, so if you think this is the best thing to do, I’ll go with you.” 

Len stares at Barry for a long moment, making Barry want to squirm. “You don’t have to go with me if you don’t want to.” He furrows his brow, studying Barry’s expression closely. 

“I want to go with you.” Barry answers simply and honestly. He maintains eye contact with Len the entire time. 

Len nods. “As long as you’re sure.” 

“I am.” 

Len hesitates, then reaches out and squeezes Barry’s thigh briefly. He lets go and stands up again. Ray starts calling them over to the truck before Barry can properly react to the sudden show of affection. He almost convinces himself that he imagined it. 

Barry grabs his bag and follows Len over to the truck. The heat still lingers heavily in the air even though the sun is about to set. He tries to ignore it. 

“Are you ready to head out?” Ray asks with a smile. 

“Sure thing, boy scout.” Len says, throwing one last glance at Barry over his shoulder. 

Barry nods. “Let’s go.” 

Len gets in first, sitting in the backseat. Barry allows Len to help pull him up into the truck. Barry sits with a seat between him a Len, putting his bag down in the empty space. Len does the same. 

Ray and Mick climb into the driver’s and passenger’s seats simultaneously. Ray starts the truck with a flourish and it roars to life. He offers a final friendly wave to Harry, Cisco, and Caitlin outside before putting the truck into gear. Barry sinks back into the seat as Ray pulls away from the tent. 

The tent is gone from view soon enough, like a fleeting memory. Barry hopes that he made the right decision, but Len being next to him convinces him that he made the best choice he could. 

Len rummages around in his bag, pulling out one of Cisco’s guns. He leans forward and hands it to Mick. 

“Told you I’d get it.” Len says with a smirk. 

Mick laughs like a little kid and accepts the gun. He turns it over in his hands, inspecting it. 

Barry gapes at the two of them. “You stole a gun from Cisco?” 

Len pulls a second gun out of the bag. “Of course not; I stole _two_ guns. We have a better use for them than he would.” 

“We’re criminals.” Mick says, still looking over the heat gun with a tender look. “Stealing is what we do. Plus, no rules in the desert.” 

Barry sighs. He can’t find any energy to argue. They’re too far from the tent now for any of it to matter, anyway. He just hopes Cisco didn’t need the guns for anything. 

Being in the truck is uneventful for the most part. The headlights barely work so Ray has to drive slowly to make sure he’s not veering away from the pipeline as he squints through the front windshield. There isn’t anything to look at outside except the stars and moon, which Barry finds himself staring at for a long time. He’s still not quite used to the view yet since the city was always covered overhead by the dome. It’s a beautiful sight. 

Barry looks over and finds Len staring at him in the darkened cab. The only light is coming from Mick’s gun, casting a dim orange glow into the cab and highlighting Len’s face. Len looks away after a couple of seconds, gazing out the window on his side of the cab. 

Eventually, as the temperature outside drops, the inside of the truck becomes colder, too. Mick turns the power on the heat gun up, which helps keep it warmer, but Barry still finds himself shivering. He moves his and Len’s bags into the storage area behind them, and scoots over until he’s sitting with his side against Len’s. 

Len goes stiff for a long moment. Then he sighs quietly and wraps an arm around Barry’s shoulder, pulling him in closer. Barry stops shivering after a while with Len’s added warmth. When they’d been at the tent for a week, Barry and Len had had more time to talk and grow closer. Barry had been surprised when Len finally opened up to him about his life in Central and his sister. 

Len clearly loved and cared for his sister even though he acted like it wasn’t a big deal. He hadn’t talked about anyone else in his family but Barry knew better than to push the subject. He’s well aware of how family could be a sensitive subject. Barry is just happy that Len trusted him enough to open up to him a little more. 

Barry lets his head fall onto Len’s shoulder and closes his eyes. He doesn’t sleep, though, just listens to the sounds of the truck as it makes its way across the desert. He doesn’t move and Len doesn’t either until it’s his turn to drive. 

*** 

By the third day of their trip, Len has fallen into the routine. Each day starts at sundown, when the batteries are recharged. They drive until either the sun rises or the batteries give out. Ray has the backup engine installed but doesn’t want to use it too often since they weren’t always able to access water at certain intervals. 

By the time the sun rises, they stop driving. They all take shifts sleeping in the truck or repairing it or keeping a lookout for any other people around. So far, there’s been only once camp along the way that they’ve seen near the pipeline. The people there had been friendly enough, but Len kept to himself for the most part. He had been tempted to steal from them but Barry had shot him a knowing look when Len had wandered to close to their storage tent, stopping Len in his tracks. 

Barry. Len is attached to Barry now, which he never saw coming. When he’d asked Barry if he had been sure he wanted to go with him on this trip, he’d been more relieved than he’d like to admit when Barry had said yes. The last thing Len wants at this point is to split up from Barry. 

The two of them spent half the time they were in the truck huddled together in the backseat. Mick had thrown Len a few knowing looks along the way but Len had been brushing it off. It’s hard not to get close to someone when you’re around them all the time. 

Barry is in the backseat of the truck with Len now, sifting through the storage area to organize it. Ray had put up large pieces of cloth along the windows to keep the sun from beating down on them too hard, and Len has his cold gun turned on to keep the air cooler. Ray and Mick are outside in the green house, tending to the plants. 

“Can I ask you something?” Len says to break their amiable silence. 

Barry nods, handing a box to Len in the storage space so he can put it back where it came from. 

Len slides the box back into place. “You never talk about your parents. What were they like?” 

Barry rests his chin on the back of the seat, thinking. “I never really knew my mom. She was killed when I was little. My dad was sent to prison for it soon after, even though he insisted he didn’t kill her. I went to visit him every once and while, but it wasn’t like he could really be a father from prison. I ended up being raised by my neighbor, Joe, who’s Iris’s dad. He’s a great dad. Worked hard to raise the two of us.” He pauses, looking at Len. “You never talk about your parents, either.” 

Len props himself up on the seat with an elbow. “Never met my mom. She left when I was still a baby. My father was a jerk. He stole and drank and… I’m glad he’s dead now.” 

“What happened to him?” 

“He perished in a fire a few years back. Seems it was deliberately set but no one figured out who started it.” 

“You don’t think that-” 

“Mick did it? I’ve tried to get it out of him before but with no luck.” Len gestures for Barry to hand him something else. 

Barry grabs a bag and hands it over. “I’m glad it’s you I got pulled into this mess with.” He smiles softly at Len. 

Len places the bag into an empty space. “Me, too.” He says quietly, almost to himself. He turns back around to face Barry, acutely aware now that they’re in a small space together with no prying eyes or ears. 

Barry and Len gaze at one another for a long time, taking in the other’s presence. Len feels the tension in his shoulder dissipate. 

“Can I kiss you?” Len asks delicately. 

Barry doesn’t take his eyes off Len, nodding his consent. Len leans over the seat, entangling his fingers in Barry’s hair. He kisses Barry gently and chastely. Barry grips Lens neck lightly and deepens the kiss. Len can feel a smile threatening to cross his lips. 

The passenger side door opens abruptly, and Len and Barry jump apart quickly. Ray jumps into the cab with a grin on his face. 

“Hey, guys.” Ray says. “How’s everything going?” 

Barry coughs a little, his face turning red. “Good. We’re almost done here.” 

“Great. We’ll set off in about-” Ray’s sentence is cut short when something hits him on the back of the head with an audible _thunk_. He keels over in pain, sliding out of the truck and onto the ground. 

Standing above Ray is woman with long blonde hair, dressed in all white. In her hands is a steel staff. She holds the staff up at Barry and Len, a dangerous look on her face. It’s one that Len’s seen all too often in Central City. 

“Give me your food and water.” She demands. 

“Not so fast, little lady.” Mick says, coming up behind her with his gun pointed at her head. “What happened to asking politely?” 

The woman freezes. Len takes the opportunity to climb back into the backseat and grab his own gun to point at her. 

“Who are you?” Len demands. 

The woman glances between Len and Mick, weighing her options, wondering if she can take them both without getting shot. 

“Tell us or we shoot.” Mick says. 

The woman eventually lowers her staff, and her eyebrows come together in anger and defeat. “Sara.” She snaps. “Sara Lance.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [My tumblr](http://kitty-514.tumblr.com)  
>  Please feel free to come chat with me or drop a prompt in my askbox because this election has me all kinds of fucked up and I could use the distraction


	9. Wicked Revenge

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There's a scene in this chapter near the end that involves bodily mutilation, so I thought I'd leave a warning for that

Sara glares at all four of the men surrounding her. Barry tries to look open and trustworthy but thinks that Sara probably wouldn’t trust any of them even if they didn’t have any weapons.

Len is currently holding his gun at Sara while Mick lets his gun hang at his side as he inspects the back of Ray’s head. Barry is leaning against the side of the truck, aware that it’s going to get dark soon and they’ll have to take off one way or another. 

“We can’t just leave her here in the middle of the desert.” Ray says, wincing when Mick finds the tender spot where he’d been hit. 

“I was doing just fine on my own.” Sara bites back. “I don’t need your help.” 

Len speaks up. “Cleary you do, considering you tried to steal from us.” 

Sara growls at him, looking ready to fight. Barry steps in between them. 

Barry turns to Sara, talking calmly. “Look, we’ve got enough food and clean water for you to take some. But, you could also join us. We could use someone who knows how to survive like you do.” He ignores Len trying to protest behind him. 

Sara eyes him up briefly, and her face softens a little. “Where are you going?” 

“We’re trying to get to Starling City, if it even still exists.” 

Something dark passes over her face. “It still exists.” 

Mick chimes in. “And how would you know?” 

Sara looks at Barry when she speaks. “I’m from Starling City. 

Len steps beside Barry, seeming to have cooled down a bit. “Then why are you here?” 

“I killed someone.” Sara answers honestly. “A corrupt government official. I was hired to do it, and when the job was done my employers ratted me out. I decided I’d rather try my hand at surviving out here than rot away in a jail cell my entire life.” 

Len lowers his gun to his side. He glances over at Barry. “Then join us and help us get to Starling City. You don’t have to go in with us. You can wait for us to get our business done there, and we’ll pick you back up on our way out of the city.” 

“We’re more than willing to take you with us.” Ray says, swatting at Mick’s hand. “Even though you did almost bash my head in.” 

Sara stares at each of them for a long time before reaching her decision. “Fine. Just give me some damn water first.” 

Ray grins at her. “Sure thing.” He starts to move for the water tank, but Mick beats him to it, giving him a little look of concern. Ray catches it. “What? I’m fine. It was honestly just a little tap on the head.” 

Mick hands Sara the water in a tin cup, and she chugs the water down. “We’re starting to run low.” He says. “We’ll have to make a water run.” 

“Barry and I will go.” Len says, handing his cold gun to Mick for him to hold onto until they got back. 

Barry and Len heave the water tank down from the bed of the truck, carrying it between them. The truck is farther away from the pipeline this time, since Mick had lost track of it last night when the headlights had finally given out. It’s about a hundred yards off, at the bottom of a sand dune. 

“So.” Barry says nonchalantly as they make the trek, watching his footing so he doesn’t slip. 

“So?” Len questions with a raised eyebrow. 

“You’re alright with having kissed me?” 

Len laughs a little. “I’m the one who asked, so why wouldn’t I be alright?” Then he frowns. “You don’t mean to say that you’re not okay with it, do you?” 

“God, no.” Barry grins. “I’m _completely_ okay with it.” 

Len sighs a little. “And you don’t regret going with Ray and Mick?” 

Barry shakes his head. “I want to get back into Central as much as you do. I had a life there, no matter how boring it was.” He notices the frown back on Len’s face. “It’s not your fault that we got sucked into this, if that’s what you’re thinking.” 

Len doesn’t reply right away, just looks down at the ground so that he doesn’t slip on the incline. “You didn’t deserve to have this happen to you. You were only an innocent bystander.” 

“Who decided to try to hide a criminal from the police. So I’m not really innocent. Or a bystander.” 

Len rolls his eyes. “That was a stupid decision.” 

Barry laughs. “I know.” 

Len cracks a smile. “Watch where you’re going, you guilty participant.” 

Barry looks down, finding the pipeline behind him. He and Len set the tank down gently. Barry brushes sand off the pipeline, looking for a valve to hook the tank up to. He finds it and waits for Len to hook it up. 

Off in the distance, Barry can see a group of people approaching them. From a camp, maybe? They’d met more than enough people who’d set up camp quite a ways from the pipeline to deter raiders. As the group gets closer, though, Barry’s stomach starts to churn. 

“Uh, Len?” Barry says. “I think we might have a problem.” 

*** 

“Hey there, boys.” 

Len stares down the man in front of them who’d spoken. He has a group of at least ten people behind him, brandishing weapons and death glares. Len can’t quite place why the man looks so familiar until- 

“Don’t you recognize me?” The man says to Len, a vicious grin on his face. “It’s me: Mark Mardon. The guy you were supposed to give the goddamn pipeline worker papers to so I could see my brother.” 

Len lifts his chin up a little, stepping in front of Barry protectively. “We both know I had to get rid of the papers. I didn’t know the police would come chasing after you, too.” 

“They didn’t.” Marks says. “I chose to leave that goddamn city to find my brother. And guess what I found when I did?” He whole face flashes with pain and anger. “My brother’s dead body. And it’s all your fault.” 

“I didn’t kill your brother.” Len says calmly. He can feel Barry grip the back of his shirt tightly. “Raiders did.” 

Mark steps closer to Len, gesturing to a man behind him. The man hands him an axe. Mark hefts it in his hands, looking it over with fascination. 

“You can say anything you want to me about Clyde’s death, but it won’t change my mind.” Mark says. “I’ve been searching along this fucking pipeline just to get my revenge and I’m not about to stop now.” 

“Barry, get out of here.” Len whispers urgently. He doesn’t want Barry anywhere near here when whatever is about to happen happens. He turns back to Mark. “How did you get so many people to follow you on this fucked up quest, anyway?” He asks, 

Barry just grips Len’s shirt tighter. “Len-” 

“Hold him right where he is.” Mark orders to his group before turning back to Len. “You’ll be surprised at how far loyalty and honesty go in a place like this. They all know the pain of loss.” 

Three people from the group rush over, grabbing Len roughly and holding him in place. Barry’s grip is torn from his shirt and he stumbles away from them. 

“Whatever you’re gonna do, get it over with.” Len snarls. He throws a look Barry’s way, pleading for him to run, but Barry shakes his head at him, a horrified expression on his face. 

Mark hoists the axe up, ready to swing, then hesitates, his eye catching on Barry. “On second thought, grab the other guy, too.” 

Panic sets in immediately for Len. “No. You’re beef is with me, Mark. Barry has nothing to do with any of this.” He jerks forward, but can’t get out of the vice-like hold on him. 

“You took my brother away from me.” Mark grounds out, smirking as Barry struggles against the two men holding him by the arms. “It’s only fair I damage something you want to protect.” 

“Mark, stop! Leave him _alone_.” Len demands. He thrashes against the people holding him. He breaks free for a second before his legs are kicked out from underneath him. 

Len falls to the ground, getting a mouthful of sand. He tries to stand up again, but someone slams their foot against his head. His face slams against the length of metal pipe below him, pain exploding from his nose. The whole world goes fuzzy for a moment, his ears ringing, and he can feel a boot holding his head down. When he regains his wits, the ringing is replaced by Barry’s muffled screams and a stream of wet _crack_ ’s, but he has no way of seeing what’s going on. Len has never been so terrified. 

Soon, Barry stops screaming and the _crack_ ’s stop coming. The pressure from the boot against his head is lifted, and Len immediately sits up. He feels blood running down his face. Mark and his crew are already walking away without a second glance. Len looks over at Barry and his insides turn sour. 

“Oh, god, Barry.” Len says, covering his mouth in case he throws up. 

Barry is sprawled out on the sand, passed out. His left leg is cut off below the knee, and blood is surging from the wound, staining the sand dark red. Len rips his scarf off and crawls over to Barry. He ties the scarf around Barry’s thigh as tightly as he can. 

Then Len screams. 

The whole world tilts around Len and he’s afraid he’ll pass out, too. He grabs Barry under the arms and stands up slowly, his head still spinning. He starts to drag Barry up the sand dune as quickly as he can without falling over. At some point, Ray, Mick, and Sara are there, taking Barry from Len and carrying him to the truck. 

Len follows after them in a daze. He vaguely remembers Mick shaking him by the shoulders and demanding to know what happened before he blacks out. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [My tumblr](http://kitty-514.tumblr.com)


	10. Thoughts of Blame

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Happy Thanksgiving to those who are celebrating it! I hope it's a good one :)

When Barry wakes up, he doesn’t feel any pain. Somewhere in the back of his mind, he knows he should, but he’s not yet entirely certain why. It’s like his mind is underwater, not fully capable of telling him what’s going on.

Barry blinks against the darkness he’s enveloped in for a good minute. He rolls over onto his left side and that’s when the pain hits him. It’s like his leg is on fire. Barry lets out a sharp yelp. 

Sunlight suddenly blinds Barry momentarily. When his eyes adjust, he sees that he’s in a small tent. Ray is hovering above him at the tent flap with an extremely worried look on his face, glancing once at Barry’s leg before pointedly not looking there again. Barry eventually manages to gather up the courage to look down at his leg. Or what’s left of it. It ends right below the knee, wrapped in bloody bandages. 

A sob escapes Barry’s lips, and soon his whole body is shaking. He can’t tear his eyes away from where the bottom half of his leg should be. He vaguely hears Ray calling for Len, and soon Len is next to Barry, gathering him up in his arms. 

Barry lays his head against Len’s chest and cries. “What- what happened?” He asks through the sobs. 

Len stiffens. “You don’t remember?” 

Barry shakes his head. He can barely remember how to breathe right now. 

Len is silent for a long time. “We were trying to get water. That man- Mark- and his lackeys attacked us. He… he cut off your leg.” He squeezes Barry tighter. “This is all my fault, Barry.” 

Barry pushes himself off of Len and manages to sit upright, avoiding looking down. He looks at Len instead, who has a dark purple bruise covering a large portion of his face, like his nose had been broken. Barry’s remembering now, remembering how Len had had his face slammed into the pipeline and how he’d been held in place frighteningly easily while Mark hacked away at his limb. 

Barry slumps forward, shutting his eyes tight. He wants to blame this all on Len since he’d been the one Mark was after. But Barry knows that’s not right. He’s to blame as well. If he’d just left when Len had told him to… No, then Len would’ve been the one in Barry’s position. Barry wouldn't have forgiven himself if that had happened. 

“Where are we?” Barry asks quietly, opening his eyes to look past Len. He can see other tents scattered about and a couple people walking around. 

“We found a camp not too far from… where everything happened. We’ve been here a couple days.” Len hesitantly reaches out to lay a hand on Barry’s shoulder. 

Barry instinctively grabs hold of it, wanting the comfort with the pain he’s in. “You’ll have to leave me behind.” He grits out, hating how his own voice sounds to his ears. 

“No.” Len says forcefully, making Barry’s focus snap back to him. “I’m not leaving you here by yourself.” 

“Len, I can’t walk.” Barry chokes on the words. “I’m only going to slow the rest of you down.” He doesn’t add that the thought of getting back on the truck makes him nauseous. 

Len frowns. “Ray said he would make you some crutches out of spare parts.” 

Barry shakes his head, and that makes him even queasier. “I’m sorry, Len, but I can’t do it. I can’t do any of this right now. It’s too much. Just leave me alone. Please.” He yanks Len’s hand off his shoulder abruptly. 

Len inhales sharply, like he’s been hit. He opens his mouth to say something, then closes it. He stands up and walks away without a word. Barry goes to lay back down but Mick is in front of him suddenly. 

“Hey.” Mick says, sitting down next to Barry. “How’re you doing?” 

“Not so good.” Barry replies honestly. 

Mick studies him briefly. Then he rolls up the sleeves of his shirt to reveal his forearms, which are covered in scars. Barry looks at him with a puzzled expression. 

“Burn scars.” Mick says, staring down at his arms. “Got ‘em when I was fairly young. Thought I’d never recover. For months, it hurt to even move an inch.” He looks up at Barry. “You’ll recover, kid, however long it takes. You’ll stop hurting so much. Me and Ray and especially Len are here for you, and we don’t want to leave you behind. Just trust us, alright?” 

Barry doesn’t know what to say to all of that, so he nods. 

Mick nods as well. “Good. Ray’s working on crutches. Once he’s done with those, and you get used to ‘em, we can get back on the road. Or sand, really.” He claps Barry on the back gently before standing up and wandering off. 

Barry pulls the flap of the tent closed and lays down, trying to ignore the sharp pain in his leg. He stares up into the darkness. He’s afraid that if he closes his eyes now, all he’ll see is Mark’s wicked face. He eventually closes his eyes, willing away each and every thought that tries to manifest, but it doesn’t work. 

*** 

Sara sits down next to Len in the shade of a tent with a quiet sigh. Len glances over at her but doesn’t say anything. They'd only ever briefly talked with one another these past couple of days, and Len isn't sure how she stands on everything that went down. Sara sits there quietly for a few minutes before breaking their silence. 

“I overheard you and Barry talking.” She says. 

“Your point being?” Len asks, staring out over the endless abyss of sand. 

“I know that I know literally nothing about Barry since I’ve only talked to him a maximum of two minutes. But I don’t think he really blames you for happened to him.” 

“Did you not hear the part where he got angry at me and wanted me leave?” 

“He isn’t angry at you. He’s upset with his situation. And he has every right to be. Just give him time.” 

Len looks over at Sara. “You seem pretty sure of yourself.” 

Sara shoots him a scornful look. “Because I am. Trust me on this.” 

“Sure. I’ll trust someone I met only two days ago.” Len has a momentary staring contest with Sara before he relents. “Fine. Whatever. Let’s see if you’re right about this." 

Len spends the next few days mulling about camp, doing whatever work is given to him. He watches Barry from afar as Ray and Mick help him learn how to get up and down and around with his crutches. It hurts Len whenever he has to watch Barry fall or lose patience with himself. 

Len knows that this is his fault. He didn’t have to go into Barry’s stall at the market. He could’ve gone and hidden anywhere else. Then Barry wouldn’t be here in this position. He wouldn't have to suffer through all of this. 

Eventually, Len approaches Barry again, around the fourth day after Barry had woken up. It’s close to nightfall, and the sun is continuing its long descent below the horizon. Barry is sitting on the ground outside, watching the sunset by himself. 

Len sits down beside him. “Hey.” He says. 

Barry turns to him with tired, sad eyes. “Hey. Long time, no speak.” 

“Yeah. I just wanted to give you some space.” 

“I know. Sara told me.” Barry winces and holds his left thigh as if he’s in pain. “I’m sorry for snapping at you like that.” 

“Don’t apologize.” Len says. “I’m the one who should be doing that. Mark was my problem. He shouldn’t have been yours. If I had just taken the cold gun with me, we both could’ve gotten out of that situation. I’m so sorry, Barry.” 

Barry frowns. “We’re both at fault here. If we see Mark again, though, we’ll give him what he deserves.” 

Len stares at Barry blankly for a second. “Barry, you don’t want to go down that path. We both saw how that can turn out.” 

Barry sets his jaw. “Just let me be angry at him, please. It’s one of the only things holding me together right now.” 

Len doesn’t respond. He reaches out hesitantly towards Barry’s hand and laces their fingers together. Barry squeezes Len’s hand, but doesn’t look at him. Instead, Barry turns back to the sunset. Len can’t tear his eyes away from Barry, his stomach clenching at the thought of someone like him harboring resentment, wanting to hurt someone else. 

“We’ll get through this together.” Len whispers. Barry doesn’t acknowledge the words if he even heard them. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [My tumblr](http://kitty-514.tumblr.com)


End file.
